


Meathead and Tiny (Don't Call Me That)

by shiptoomuch



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, F/M, Fem!Bones - Freeform, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Genderswap, Humor, tiny!bones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-03 15:03:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1748837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiptoomuch/pseuds/shiptoomuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim's not sure what he was expecting when he decided to join Starfleet, but it sure as hell wasn't a grumpy doctor who's just barely five feet tall to start bossing him around.<br/>Lenore H McCoy is mean and hilarious and Jim is sure they’re going to be best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So...this is an idea I got from this post http://fabtrek.tumblr.com/post/87830389476/slashsailing-dammitmccoy-au-where-fem-bones  
> And I have been thinking about it a lot.

After a night of being beaten and yelled at and harassed by a certain starfleet captain, all Jim comes out with is the fact that his nose really hurts. A lot.

He stumbles to the shipyard in the morning because that’s the first thought he has when he wakes up and by the time he decides to question it, he’s too far down the road. He’s never been a fan of turning back and he’s not about to start now.  
He stumbles into a seat after slamming his head on a bar that he could swear wasn’t there before. It’s all he can do to smirk at the cadets in their perfect little uniforms sitting primly with their seat belts buckled perfectly just looking spit-shined and wonderful.

Whatever.

A few shouted comments and general medical drunk hilarity later, Jim’s got a seat mate. A brunette who cannot be over five feet tall and who looks drunk and tired as all get out. “All I got left is my bones.” She mutters after a brief conversation about what Starfleet actually is and does she know what she’s doing?

“Jim Kirk.” Jim takes a flask from her grasp.

“McCoy. Lenore McCoy.” She snatches it back after he’s had his fill. “Biggest damn failure in the solar system. That’s why I’ve gotta get out.”

“I doubt it.” Jim half laughs. “Did you not catch my last name or the fact that I look like I shoved my face into a meat grinder?”

Lenore raises an eyebrow. “Don’t turn this into a competition on me, boy. You’ll lose. I’m older and have had much more time to fail.”

“It’s all about concentration.” Jim laughs and plucks the flask away again. “This is good stuff, man. Er, girl. Whatever.” 

The eyebrow stays up if it doesn’t go a little higher. “Kentucky bourbon. Some of us prefer the good stuff, not dirty dishwater.”

At the end of the shuttle ride, Jim walks away with the knowledge that Lenore McCoy is mean and he loves it.  
-  
Jim’s not quite ready to find his room and ‘get settled’ just yet, so he wanders the halls of the dormitory (a dormitory, is this what college should have been like?), scoping out the other cadets just moving in. He doesn’t want to think about them in terms of competition but bad habits die hard and Jim’s never been under the illusion that life is anything other than one big game of chess.

More like monopoly, really.

"Hey meathead!" Jim hears a voice call out in the crowded dorm hall and for some reason he responds to the name.  
He turns and can’t seem to find the source.

A deep sigh. “Look down.”

Jim follows instructions and soon finds himself locking eyes with the very short and very angry doctor he befriended (or so he’d like to think) on the shuttle ride over. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Bones. Itty bitty Bonesy.”

Apparently his comment isn’t appreciated because the woman levels him with a glare that could kill a Klingon. “Very funny. You know what, why am I asking you for help? There are plenty of perfectly nice people around. Shoo.”

Jim ignores the way she waves him away. “So they do have uniforms in your size.” He smirks. “Or were you too smashed to remember our lovely conversation? Jim Kirk, in case you forgot.” He places a hand on his chest.

Lenore glares at him. “Are you sure you aren’t still concussed and are making up this whole encounter?”

Jim reaches into his bag and pulls out Lenore’s flask. “Nope. You forgot this, by the way.”

“They said they’d never had to give a human a uniform in this size.” Lenore mumbles and snatches her belonging away from Jim. 

“What was that?”

“They said they’ve never-” Lenore catches the look in Jim’s eye and huffs, blowing her bangs away from her face. “Are you going to help me or what?”

Jim pretends to consider it just to be an asshole. “Fine.” He mock sighs. “What do you need, shorty?”

Lenore looks about ready to throw down but apparently her need for Jim’s height outweighs her rage. “I can’t get the damn door to open.”

Jim perks up. Luckily, through years and years of shitty motels, this is one thing he knows how to fix. “It’s easy. You’ve just gotta use the little emergency panel at the top of the-” He stops where he was reaching up to open the panel and looks down at the very short woman. “Oh.” He can’t help the giggles that burst out of his mouth. 

“Oh my god, you are literally no help at all.” She adjusts her red jacket. “Just go, I’ll find a stepstool.”

Jim rolls his eyes and punches in the code to open the door. “Just put your thumb on the scanner.” He watches as she does so, albeit reluctantly, and the door slides open after a moment. “It shouldn’t give you any more problems, but if it does just comm me.”

She nods and offers a hand because that’s where Jim is now. He’s in a place where people offer handshakes. “Thanks, meathead.”

“Any time, shorty.” He takes her hand and is surprised by the firmness of her handshake despite her tiny hands. Must be a surgeon thing.

Lenore meets his eyes with an expression he can’t read and he’s not sure if he wants to, but it passes quickly and is soon replaced with her usual general bitterness towards life. “So, what room is unlucky enough to be housing you?”

“I resent that.” Jim narrows his eyes at her before pulling his padd out and looking at his room assignment. “It would seem that I will be residing in room 329. Should probably go find it before my roommate takes up all the space.” He looked up with a grin only to find Lenore looking at him like he’s the biggest idiot on the planet. “What? I don’t know what this guy is like and I don’t want to end up with two square feet of space-”

“Jim, this is room 329.” Lenore interrupts him quickly. “I’m your roommate.” She crosses her arms. “Did you seriously not notice that this is your room?”

“I guess I just wasn’t expecting it to be a-well, a-”

“Girl?” Jim’s pretty sure Lenore would be flipping her hair if it wasn’t in a bun. “What is this? The twenty first century? We’re all adults and same sex couples exist out in the open. Besides, we’re all adults.” She turns on her heel and marches into the dorm. “Are you coming?” She throws a look over her shoulder.

Jim scurries in behind her because he’s just afraid she’ll incapacitate him if he takes too long. He hefts his small bag over his shoulder. “So, I guess this could work. I mean, as long as you don’t, like, hypo me in my sleep we should be fine.” He eyes all the high cupboards. “And I can even be like your personal ladder!”

“I should think so, at six foot two or whatever. You freakishly tall person.”

“Well not all of us can be four foot eleven, Bones.” 

Lenore whirls around. “I’m five feet tall!”

Jim narrows his eyes pretending to size her up. “Sure. I’ll give you the extra inch if it makes you feel better.”

“Famous quotes from Jim Kirk’s past flings.” Bones responds quickly. She smirks at him with a raised eyebrow, as though she’s daring him to respond. 

He knows he can’t ever match her, doesn’t even want to try, so he shuts his mouth. 

He feels like he’ll be learning to do that a lot.

“I’m taking the bed by the window and I really don’t care what you have to say about it, Kirk.” She throws her bag down on said bed before shrugging off her uniform jacket, leaving her in just the black undershirt.

“Fine with me. I’ve never been a fan of the sun in the morning anyway.” Jim drops his bag and crosses the room to sprawl out across his new bed. Not as rock hard as he expected, but still not exactly comfortable. It would be difficult if he were actually used to comfortable beds. “So, you excited to start your illustrious Starfleet career, Doctor McCoy?”

She groans. “Oh yeah, flight sims and combat training and first year med students. Sounds like a blast.”

Lenore H McCoy is mean and hilarious and Jim is sure they’re going to be best friends. Jim grins at her. “Come on, Bones! It’ll be fun!”

“Don’t call me that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Somehow, Jim always ends up befriending the biggest idiots wherever he goes. Like Gary Mitchell. Gary Mitchell lives his life blissfully, knowing perfectly well that he’s an asshole, but not wanting to change that fact. Not one bit.

And sure, Jim can practically hear the choruses of people who would probably love to point out how much of an ass Jim is, but that doesn’t mean he’s anything close to being at Gary’s level.

“...so she winks at me and we all know where this is going, right? So I lean in to do the whole ‘your place or mine?’ thing and her fucking boyfriend shows up out of nowhere. And this guy is fucking huge. I, for one, thought my ass was going to get kicked from here to next wednesday but long story short, I nailed ‘em both.” Gary finishes his story with a chuckle and he raises his hand for a high five.

Jim returns the gesture while simultaneously thinking about the phrase “long story short” as it applies to already lengthy stories. He decides it’s probably the most pointless colloquialism ever. “Sweet, dude.” Not really. Jim doesn’t actually care, but he’s nothing if not a great friend.

“Yeah, for real.” Gary nods and pumps a fist in the air. “Joining the ‘fleet was the best choice I ever made, you know? Major points with the local ladies and I’m only a first year cadet. Just imagine what it’s going to be like when we get closer to graduating.”

Jim, for the first time in his mortal life, actually is tired of talking about girls. There comes a point at which he just cannot deal with it anymore. He made a promise to Captain Pike that he’d do it in three and that plan does not involve spending his time talking about breasts with some rocks-for-brains ‘bro.’

God, he can hardly believe himself. Two weeks ago, it would have been him telling the story to anyone who would listen.

Two weeks ago, Jim would have been drunk off his ass on the floor of a bar.

Gary looks over Jim’s shoulder and whistles. “Hey isn’t that your roomie?” Jim turns to find that it is indeed Lenore, looking tired and grumpy as ever. “I’m usualy one for long legs and all that, but damn. I would totally let her-”

“Yeah, okay man. Listen, I’m gunna go. Catch you later?” Jim starts jogging away before gary can hold him back or try to make plans, glad for the escape that Lenore provides.

“Bros before hoes, dude!” Gary shouts. “Bros before hoes!”

Jim casually flips him off just as he finally catches up to Lenore. “Have fun listening to Mitchell blabber on about breasts, dude?” Lenore teases. 

Jim groans, throwing his hands out. “Some of the command track cadets are even worse than him, believe it or not.” He would throw himself to the ground, but somehow he thinks that wouldn’t be appreciated by anyone at all.

“Oh, I believe it. The med track probably isn’t much better. Four days in and I already want to kill most of them.” Lenore throws a sarcastic hand into the air. “Starfleet!”

Jim cackles and claps. “The best and the brightest!” He supplies. “The future of the Federation!”

“God help us.”

The walk along in companionable silence for a few minutes and Jim can’t help but think that it’s nice to actually have a friend beside his brother, who lives on another planet. Jim was good at getting people to come (pun intended) but not at getting them to stay.

Up until now he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to.

After about two minutes, Jim starts to notice the strange looks they get and he tries to stifle his laughter, but soon finds that he can’t. He doubles over in a fit of giggles because he should have expected this but it’s just too good. 

“What?” Lenore demands, but Jim can hear the laughter in her voice, too. They always did say he was infectious. (Although those comments weren’t always in a nice way. He’s clean, he checked!)

“You’re so tiny.” He manages to gasp out. “People are staring.”

“We’ve been over this, James. Also, the sky is blue, grass is green, and Gary Mitchell is an ass of epic proportions.” She puts her hand on her hip. “Are we done stating the obvious, Meathead?”

Jim gasps for breath and nods. “It’s just the looks people give you. Aren’t there height requirements for humans in Starfleet?”

Lenore groans and brushes her bangs out of her eyes. “Yes, but being a federation-renowned neurosurgeon tends to make people ignore things like that.” She says it like it’s no big deal, just a fact that she’s one of the most talented people in the field, thus garnering a ridiculous amount of respect.

From everyone except Jim, of course. “Itty bitty Bonesy.” He giggles.

She watches him laugh for a moment more before turning on her heel and marching away. “I’m going to go eat. Catch up if you want to.”

Jim takes a moment to collect himself before sprinting to catch up with Lenore. “We should get pizza.”

“You read my mind, Meathead.”

-

“You know, Bones, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Jim speaks around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. Lenore grimaces and shoves napkins at him.

“We’ve known each other for a week, Jim. We live together. I’d hardly call this the beginning.” She takes another bite of pizza, finishing her fourth slice and making Jim wonder what kind of freaky metabolism this girl has. Seriously, he’s feeling full already and she’s kicking his ass. “And why do you say that?”

“Well,” Jim starts before remembering to swallow, lest he incur the very real wrath of his roommate and new best friend (even if she doesn’t know it). “For one, you’re not seventeen fucking years old. It’s nice to have someone who’s actually my age around. Second,-”

“You’re twenty two, James.” Lenore interrupts. “I’m twenty eight. Hardly the same age.”

“Second,”Jim continues, ignoring her insistence that she is, in fact, an old lady. “I find the fact that you think I’m a total idiot quite refreshing.”

“Oh really?”

Jim nods enthusiastically. He really does. He’s sure that most people think it, but how many are actually brave enough to call George Kirk’s son an ‘giant fucking baby with too much product in his hair’ to his face? He’s pretty sure it’s just the one. “Bones, you’re basically the best at keeping me in check and making me feel bad about doing my hair.”

“Of course I am.” Lenore is sure to roll her eyes at him pointedly before reaching for another slice. 

Jim watches her in awe. Nobody that small should be able to eat that much pizza in one sitting and remain thin. Hell, nobody of any size should be able to. Jim wonders if Lenore has intimidated the laws of the universe into submission with a single raised eyebrow. He wouldn’t actually put it past her. “Seriously, how do you do that?”

Lenore just looks at him. “How do I do what?”

“Where do you put it all? I’ve eaten three slices and I’m going to have to do double hand to hand classes just to continue to wear these pants. You weigh, what, 90 pounds? This should not be physically possible.”

Lenore’s left eyebrow makes a desperate bid to join her hairline while she considers Jim. He blushes slightly, afraid of how she might react. He has to break eye contact because he’s suddenly feeling really stupid and how does she do that?

Apparently she’s in a gracious mood, because Lenore doesn’t take it as an insult (which she shouldn’t, even a little bit) and she simply shrugs. “I honestly have no idea. I’ve always been like this: huge appetite, fast metabolism, tiny frame.” She narrows her eyes at him. “But you’re right. You are looking a little pudgy.”

Jim reels back, clutching his hands to his stomach and gripping the slight pooch of fat. “I’m not pudgy! Take it back!”

“Might want to start eating more salad. Some apples, maybe.” She smirks. 

“Bones!” Jim’s voice goes up about two octaves.

She shrugs and looks him in the eyes meaningfully, even though Jim can see that mean glint behind it. “Look, it’s not your fault. Not everyone has a great metabolism. It just means that you have to work harder.” She reaches across the table and he scoots even further away. 

“You’re demonic, Lenore McCoy.” He hisses, voice still high pitched. Jim coughs, trying to make his voice resemble something other than a soprano. “I take it all back. You’re not a good friend at all. You’re a mean meanie.” Jim narrows his eyes and grins. “Shorty.”

Lenore smirks and straightens up in her seat. “Come now, James. That’s no way to behave to a lady. How ever will you catch a man?” She makes her Georgia accent go thicker, giving her the air of being an old southern lady. “I thought you were raised better than that.”

Jim shakes his head. “Raised in a barn, literally.” He shrugs. “What can I say?”

“That does explain a lot, doesn’t it?”

Jim just laughs and watches her finish the slice with perfect precision. It takes her exactly eleven bites to do so. She leaves half of the crust on the plate, just as she's done with the four other slices. 

It might be weird for him to notice this kind of stuff, but for some reason he doesn't really care. "So, Bones, any plans for later tonight?"

Lenore stares at him. "I am not going to go drinking with you." She tells him flatly. "I refuse to be a wingman purely on principle."

Jim shakes his head. "No, Bones, I would be the wingman. We need to get you laid." He really does believe it. Maybe she'd loosen up a little bit if she got some...whatever it is she wants.

"What part of 'bitter divorcee' do you not understand?" She snaps. "I don't want a one night stand and I do not want to go get shitfaced with you, Jim Kirk. I am too old for this shit."

Jim throws his hands up in defense. He really did not expect her to get this upset. "Sorry, Bones. I was just suggesting it. I didn't want to offend your tiny self." He smiles and offers a hand. "Are we good?"

"Yeah, I guess." She takes the hand in her still surprising grip. 

"Cool. Shorty."

"Meathead."


	3. Chapter 3

“Good morning, gorgeous!” A far too chipper voice wakes Jim up and his first instinct is to punch the source.

His second is far less violent. “Gaila, why?” He mumbles, mostly to the pillow. “Why are you even here?” He’s pretty sure they didn’t sleep together last night. At least 98% sure. He normally comes out a lot more stiff after a night with Gaila. Sex with her is great, but shit’s athletic.

“Yeah, Gaila. He doesn’t like to be called gorgeous before noon.” Lenore chimes in, also sounding quite chipper. 

Jim rolls over and glares at the two sitting in the small kitchenette (one of the benefits of rooming with an already certified doctor is larger accommodations). Gaila grins and waves, Lenore smirks (of course) and raises an eyebrow. “Why do you keep feeding them, Bones? If you feed them, they come back.”

He’s only really half joking. He likes Gaila plenty and he doesn’t mind having her around. It’s his other “conquests” that he doesn’t like so much. Gaila is a fuckbuddy, meant to be fed and kept around without getting to serious.

The others? Well, they’re meant to be a little bit more temporary. “Gaila and I are just having breakfast together. This has absolutely nothing to do with you, James.” Lenore speaks with a tone of voice that sounds like a mother.

Jim sighs and sits up to look at the two women. “Don’t call me James.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “Did you at least make me some?”

Lenore just smiles. “You know where the food is and I’m sure you’re capable of making something for yourself.”

Jim decides it’s not worth it to get up yet when he doesn’t actually have a class for three hours. Like, really not worth it. He instead decides to flop back down on his side and stare at his friends. “Fine. I guess I’ll starve.” He speaks pointedly at Lenore.

“Are you really not going to get up and eat?”

Jim just raises an eyebrow, a skill he’s mastered after three whole weeks of living with one Doctor McCoy. He’s hit in the face with a piece of dry toast about three seconds later. “Thanks, peach.” He winks at a scowling Lenore cheerfully before chomping on the toast happily.

Gaila’s response to the whole scene is to giggle and clap. She’s always been just a bit more enthusiastic than the rest of them when it comes to banter and hatred. For some reason, she seems to find the fact that Lenore literally thinks Jim is an overgrown infant endlessly entertaining. “You humans are so strange!” 

“No, it’s just Jim.” Lenore assures her. “I’m not entirely sure what happened to him, but I’d like to run some tests on his brain. Could be good for a paper.”

Jim squawks in protest. “She was talking about you too! She said humans, as in plural.” 

Gaila nods seriously. “I will admit that James is much more...interesting at times.” She winks saucily at him.

“Now you’re calling me James, too?” Jim buries his head beneath his pillow. “Will this never end?”

Lenore laughs. “You only think he’s ‘interesting’ because you sleep with him. The rest of us think he’s an ass.”

“Perhaps you should engage in sexual relations with James as well, Doctor McCoy?” Gaila says it and from anyone else, it would have been a joke but Jim can tell that she’s completely serious.

Lenore chokes on whatever it was she was eating and starts fumbling around a response. “I-He-No way would I ever-Nope. I will not sleep with Jim Kirk.” She states finally. 

Jim throws a pillow at her. “Seriously never? Bones, I’m hurt.”

Lenore throws it back. “Shut up, Meathead. You don’t want to either.” 

Jim can admit it would be strange. Lenore is his roommate and best friend. Their relationship is still in a fragile stage and sleeping together would probably just send it all to hell in a handbasket. Besides, she’s a bitter divorcee and he’s pretty sure she’s not looking for anything like that.

Not that Jim is. He’s really not.

Sleeping with Lenore McCoy could only really end badly for everyone involved.

Sensing the odd tension which began to permeate the room after her comment, Gaila gasps. “I am very sorry if I have said something wrong.” She speaks hurriedly. “I do not understand terran customs yet. You treat sex so delicately and oddly.” She tosses her curls over her shoulder and Jim watches her brow furrow delicately. In another world, he thinks they could have been more than friends and bedwarmers. 

“It’s fine. Jim’s weird, as we’ve already covered.” Lenore assures her. “He’s amazed that there is a single living and breathing organism in the Galaxy who does not want to sleep with his sorry ass.”

Jim grins lecherously at her. “Well, you know what they say about my ass: It’s out of this world.” He slaps said ass through the comforter. 

Lenore just rolls her eyes. “Yes, if by ‘they’ you mean you.”

Jim decides not to dignify her with a response and instead turns to Gaila. “So, how do you think you did on the Theory of Warp test the other day? I’m pretty sure I totally bombed.”

Gaila smiles broadly. “I think I demonstrated my knowledge quite well. It was not too challenging.” She shrugs. “Perhaps I can tutor you?”

Jim nods, even though they both know how it would end if she tried to tutor him. It would be fun, but he probably wouldn’t learn anything about the theory of warp 10. “Sounds great. How does Thursday sound?”

“Oh my God, I’m still here.” Lenore blurts out. “Sorry, but you are literally making fuck plans while I’m eating.” She holds up her plate as if they needed proof of her consumption of food.

Jim winks at her and she frowns at him. “You could always make your own plans with Gaila.”

“Yes, Doctor McCoy. I believe we would both find it pleasurable.” Gaila looks at Lenore meaningfully, causing the good doctor to turn an alarming shade of vermillion. 

“Don’t try to proposition me, dammit!” She jumps up from the bed. “That means both of you!” Lenore huffs and straightens her shirt before storming off into the bathroom. Jim watches her go, suddenly feeling bad about what he did.

Gaila stands up after listening to the lock click and the shower starts running. “I am afraid I must be off, Jim. Message me with the details for Thursday.” She stoops down to kiss Jim on the cheek before exiting the small dorm.

Jim lays on his back, contemplating the ceiling while he listens to the shower run. It takes around fifteen minutes during which he counts the ceiling tiles (256) and contemplates the slightly different shade of white that is the 33rd tile.

The shower shuts off and the hair dryer runs for another five minutes before he deems it safe to venture back there. He stands up, stretches (he’s only twenty two, he should not be this stiff!), and walks the few short steps to the bathroom door. He knocks first before opening the door anyway. If she didn’t want him to open it, it would be locked.

“Hey, Jim.” She smiles at him in the mirror, all the while braiding her long hair to pin into a bun. She doesn’t have incredibly long hair like some people he knows, but it certainly isn’t short and being a doctor with hair falling in your face is something that never works. “You need something?”

“Toothbrush.” Jim responds and Lenore steps out of the way so that he can grab what he needs and brush his teeth. “Seriously how do you do that?” He speaks with the toothbrush in his mouth while he watches her deft fingers twist her hair perfectly without so much as a glance into the mirror.

“I’m a surgeon, Jim.” Lenore responds flatly. “Dexterity is kind of a requirement. Besides, I have plenty of practice.” She adds a few pins in, steps in front of the mirror again (it’s easy for them to both look at the same time due to the fact that Lenore barely reaches Jim’s armpit), and nods at herself. “Not all of us are hamfingered meatheads, Meathead.”

Jim shakes his head while Lenore exits the room. He spits, rinses with moutwash, and gives himself a grin in the mirror. A little bit of gel in his hair and he’s good to go for the day with almost two hours before he has anywhere to go.

Better go see what Lenore’s up to. He goes to the main part of the apartment with minimal difficulty and finds Lenore scowling at her comm. “Hey, what’s wrong, Bones?”

Lenore’s head snaps up and the brief look of sadness is quickly replaced with her usual scowl. “What do you mean? Can’t a woman just check her messages in peace?”

“Not looking that unhappy.” Jim replies easily.

“I always look unhappy, idiot. I don’t know if you noticed or not. It’s kind of a thing.” She stands up and throws her comm down. “I’m going to go ask Chapel something.” Lenore stomps out of their shared dorm in search of the nurse who lives down the hall.

Jim just stares after her, completely bewildered. Whatever she was looking at must have been pretty bad cuz she’s typically an angry person, but that was a whole new world of grump.

The comm dings again while Lenore is out of the room.

And again.

And again.

On the fourth chime, Jim picks it up to at least see who it is harassing his roommate. The screen displays the name “J. Treadway” which sounds familiar, but Jim’s not entirely sure.

Lenore reenters without him noticing and Jim is caught redhanded holding the comm. “Did you lose your comm again?” She crosses her arms and leans against the wall. 

“What?” Jim starts and throws the comm down.

“Your comm. Did you lose it again?” She walks towards him and he can’t help but feel threatened despite her height. “I’m assuming you were planning on using mine to call yours because otherwise it would be an invasion of my privacy and I know you’re not that dumb.”

Jim swallows thickly and decides to at least use his height to get the upper hand here. He’s pretty sure he’s got nothing else in this situation. He stands up and holds the comm over his head. “Who is J. Treadway and why do they keep obsessively trying to reach you?”

Right on cue, the comm chimes again. Lenore jumps a little and tries to get it from him to no avail. “Jim. Just give it to me.”

Jim ignores her plea. “No! Who is it? An ex lover? A bounty hunter? Have you committed any crimes recently?” He teases and grins down at her.

The response he gets isn’t the happiest. Lenore furrows her eyebrows and stomps on Jim’s foot, snatching away the device when he bends over. The comm chimes again and she groans. For a second, Jim is sure she’s about to throw it against the wall but she seems to regain her control. “Jocelyn Treadway.”

“Who?” Jim cocks his head. He’s sure he’s heard that name before even if he can’t pinpoint it.

“My ex wife.” Lenore explains. 

“Oh.” Jim feels stupid, to say the least.

“Now the wife of a certain Clay Treadway.” She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’d feel sorry for the poor bastard if he wasn’t such a massive dick.”

“Why is she calling you?” Jim wants to quash his curiosity, but he can’t seem to. 

Lenore shrugs and tosses her comm onto the bed. “Who the hell knows. Probably to get more money out of me as if her new husband isn’t rich as balls.” She looks up at Jim and points directly into his face. “If a girl doesn’t really seem interested in you until you tell her what you do for a living, run. Just run.” 

“Noted.” Jim takes her hand and moves it away from his face. “Now, Shorty, what are we going to do about the former Mrs McCoy?”

Lenore furrows her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Jim sighs and gestures towards the incredibly active comm. “This can’t go on! We need to teach her that she can’t keep harassing you!” 

“Look, Jim. You don’t know Jocelyn. She’s crazy as fuck.” She widens her eyes. “She has methods of making people do things. It’s terrifying.”

“You married her.”

“A mistake.” Lenore sighs. “But really, I don’t think there’s anything that can get her to leave me alone.”

Jim scrunches up his face in concentration. “Tonight. We’ll go out, get a little social lubricant in our systems and start plotting.”

Lenore raises an eyebrow at him but Jim can see the hint of a smile on her lips. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but okay.” She sighs and shrugs. “But don’t think for a second that you can out drink me.”


	4. Chapter 4

The thing about Delaney’s is that not a lot of people go there, but the people who do can be unpredictable, to put it kindly. Looking around the bar, Jim thinks that tonight is probably a safe night, no one trying to feel anyone up (well at least no one who doesn’t want it), only a few patrons scattered about, even the bartender is slightly more relaxed than usual. Jim doesn’t think he’s ever seen those glasses polished.

He sits on his stool, nearly untouched whiskey in front of him. He looks around and looks at his watch. 2100. Lenore should have been here about twenty minutes ago. They have serious planning to do.

Just when Jim is about to give up hope that the doctor will ever show up, Lenore bursts through the door. As much as a woman who’s five feet tall can burst through anything, really. Jim takes a look at her and realizes she looks tired. Like really fucking tired. “Bones! Over here!” He calls out to her and she smiles a little.

It almost looks genuine. “Hey, Jim.” She hops up onto the stool next to him. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Rough day?” 

Lenore leans an elbow on the bar and puts her head in her hand. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Shift at the clinic with these fucking idiots who-”

“Shush.” Jim holds up a hand to silence her and Lenore just looks at him with wide eyes. Jim grins and turns to the bartender. “Bourbon for the lady, top shelf.” He orders for Lenore and moves his hand away from her face. “Continue.”

“I can order for myself.” Lenore huffs before continuing, “Well these fuckfaces wouldn’t know a hypospray from a stethoscope and I swear to god if I hadn’t stepped in this idiot engineer would have lost his arm.” She downs half of her drink in one go. “And this is the twenty third century, right? I didn’t accidentally travel back in time? People should not be losing their arms.”

Jim watches her get worked up over the events of the day and he can’t help but grin. Lenore is abrasive and grumpy and not someone most people would want to be with for extended periods of time but she cares. Jim knows she cares. Lenore even cares about Jim, as amazing as that may seem.

“-and then today I had that bullshit mandatory physical training. I mean, I’m a doctor not a starship captain, I sure hope I’m never in a situation where I have to climb rope ladders and go across monkey bars to save someone.” She sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, I mean they start us off on the simulated ones that adjust to our heights and strengths and stuff but is that really helping? I’m going to have to do the real one some day soon and that thing sure as hell isn’t made for a person my height.” 

And fuck. That’s not something Jim’s really taken into consideration. He’s always known Lenore could kick the ass of any mental exercise they throw at her but the obstacle courses cadets have to complete are not only outdated but they very much involve aspects of height. Jumping up to monkey bars for him is easy, but for Lenore? Probably not so much. “Shit, Bones. I can help you train, if you want. I mean, it’ll be pretty much impossible for some of the stuff, but I can help you.”

Lenore nods and smiles bitterly. “Thanks. I probably need it. Hell, I definitely need it.”

Jim nudges her with his elbow. “Bet you’re wishing those officers cared about neurosurgery right about now, eh?” He jokes, hoping to cheer his best friend up.

“You bet your corn fed ass.” Lenore raises her glass in a mock salute to him and promptly downs the rest of her drink. “God, why don’t I go drinking more?”

Jim throws his hands in the air. “That’s what I’ve been saying!” He crows.

“I got married. I got boring.” Lenore buries her face in her hands. “I’ve only had one drink, I’m not nearly drunk enough for this.”

Jim taps the bar and holds up a hand to get Lenore another round. “Let’s talk revenge.” He grins. “How exactly did the whole divorce go down?”

Lenore raises her left eyebrow to a height that shouldn’t be possible. “Why do you need to know?”

“Vital to the whole revenge thing, Bones. Trust me.” Jim knocks back his drink, figuring he should probably at least try to keep up with his tiny companion. “In order to figure out the level of payback required, I need to know of the wrongdoings.”

Lenore phsyically deflates in defeat. Jim can be stubborn sometimes too. “She cheated on me with Clay. She cheated on me and then kicked me out of the house I payed for.” She takes a gulp of her drink and sighs. “I was working all the time and she said it was my fault for not caring about her. Fuck that. I cared. That’s why I worked.” She stares darkly at the dark wood of the bar, as if it could solve the puzzle of her fucked up marriage.

Jim whistles. “That’s low. What we need here is something that says ‘if you ever fuck with me again, I will destroy you’ but it needs to be elegant. We don’t want to low class this bitch.” He steeples his fingers together. “Does this Jocelyn have a past of less-than-lovely behavior, perchance?”

Lenore snorts and nods. “Lord, does she. Not big stuff, mind you, but it’s shit that no one else knows about. I doubt even Clay knows. Jocelyn has built herself a reputation that could easily be ruined.” As she finishes speaking, a sudden look of clarity comes across her face. “We’re going to humiliate her? Publicly?”

Jim shakes his head hastily. “I’m all about scaring people, but not actually ruining their lives. That takes the fun out of it.” When Lenore tilts her head at him, Jim holds up his hands to placate her worries. “If you make someone think that you’re going to ruin their life, it lasts. That shit sticks with you because you never know if today is the day.”

Lenore’s eyebrows knit together in the middle of her forehead. “So..we’re going to threaten to ruin her life? Jim, I think you’re forgetting that I have absolutely zero reputation back home. She’d know I was bluffing.”

Jim purses his lips. He really did not take that into consideration. Of course someone like Jocelyn would ruin Lenore’s reputation just for fun. They need someone who could actually scare her, someone with power and authority, someone who exudes leadership-

“Pike!” Jim exclaims suddenly. 

“What.” Lenore phrases it as less of a question and more of a statement. 

Jim takes a drink quickly before explaining. “Okay. So, I’m super tight with Captain Pike, right?”

Lenore’s eyebrow makes an even more desperate attempt to escape her face. “Sure.” 

“Well,” Jim begins enthusiastically. “Who’s more intimidating than a Starfleet official? No one, that’s who.” Jim grins cockily. “And we all know exactly how persuasive Pike is. He got me to enlist, after all.”

“Are we really doing this?”

“Oh yes. We are so doing this, Bones.” Jim whoops in glee when Lenore acquiesces and nods. “Bartender, another round! And keep it coming.”

After a few rounds (Jim loses count), Jim is feeling a bit more fuzzy than normal but happy nonetheless. He’s used to drinking alone, after years and years of it. (Not legal drinking but who cares? Not Jim.) He’s used to getting blackout drunk and only knowing what happened the night before through a story told in bruises and broken bones.

Bones. Jim snorts and nearly loses his balance on the stool. (Okay, maybe it was more than a few rounds.) Lenore sits primly on the stool next to him, looking fresh as a Georgia peach. This thought too makes Jim laugh. Before he knows it, he’s collapsed into a fit of giggles and Lenore is apparently attempting to raise an eyebrow. This doesn’t help him recover.

“What is wrong with you?” Lenore’s accent is significantly thicker than normal and Jim is reminded of southern belles in old movies. “What’s so funny?”

Jim snorts and points at Lenore. “Your ex wife. She broke you. Broken Bones.”

“So you’re that kind of drunk.”

Jim shakes his head fervently. “Nope. I normally get the shit bit out of me.” He smiles and stands up, or, he tries to stand. He mostly ends up stumbling and sitting back down. “It’s all thanks to a tiny southern belle. A little Georgia peach.”

Lenore rolls her eyes at Jim but she’s still smiling. “Of course, Jim.” Her words are slurred but otherwise she seems perfectly poised. Jim’s pretty sure she drank more than him.

She wasn’t joking when she said she could outdrink him and it really fucking doesn’t make sense to Jim.

Just when Jim’s coming to terms with the fact that he probably will never be able to keep up with this girl in any way at all, a cadet Jim recognizes as being from the command track saunters up. He leans against the bar and turns Lenore’s stoll so that she’s facing him.

Jim stares in shock at the nerve of the guy. Something about it being Lenore that he’s manhandling makes Jim even angrier.

Jim watches as Lenore starts slightly and tries to turn back, but the jerk holds her still with a hand on her shoulder. Hell, the guy’s hand covers her entire shoulder. “Hey, sweetie pie.” He slurs out.

Shit. Not only is this guy huge and overbearing, he’s drunk. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not interested.” Lenore shrugs his hand off and tries once again to turn back towards Jim.

“You’re not even going to listen to what I have to offer?” Cadet McAwful says, a little bit more forceful now, and Jim wants to charge forward but for some reason he’s stuck in place. He can’t seem to get his legs and brain to work in tandem. “I think you might be pretty interested, a little thing like you.”

“I’m not interested.” Lenore states, perfectly enunciating each word. “Please leave me alone.”

The cadet leans into her personal space and Jim suddenly snaps into action. Where he had been pleasant and fuzzy before, Jim is suddenly focused and angry. Just like old times. He steps around Lenore to the massive cadet and pushes his shoulder back. “She said she’s not interested. Now I suggest you clear out.” Jim cracks his knuckles in warning.

He’s met with nothing more than a laugh. “Listen, princess. I don’t think you want what you’re asking for.”

“And she doesn’t want what you’re asking for. So why don’t we all just walk away.” Jim nods and narrows his eyes, already sizing him up and trying to figure out the best way to level the fucker.

Jim might not have muscle mass on his side, but he’s got plenty of height and knowledge of how a fight goes down, something he doubts this cadet knows anything about. 

“Jim.” Lenore touches his shoulder. “Please, let’s just go.”

“Oh!” The cadet leers. “So you’re his little fucktoy, aren’t you?” He grins lecherously at Lenore. “Well I don’t think he’d mind so much if I borrowed you.”

Before Jim is fully aware of what’s actually happening, his fist flies out and connects with his jaw. Pain shoots up his arm but it’s too late to back out now and he doesn’t really want to.

The cadet reels back for a second before returning with a punch to Jim’s gut and then they’re at it. Jim struggles to land kicks and punches where he knows it’ll hurt, but there’s blood and he doesn’t know whose it is. “She’s not my fucktoy.” He spits at the cadet. “She’s my friend and she’s a person.”

“Jim!” Lenore shrieks. 

“So you’re not man enough to take her, are you?” The cadet hisses at Jim, punching him in the gut. “I bet she likes it, too. A little pretty thing like her is just begging for it, isn’t she?”

Suddenly, Jim’s being pulled away from the fight by someone who is surprisingly strong. He watches as Lenore stomps up to the asshole cadet and punches him once, twice, three times in the nose before he’s knocked out cold. She wipes her hands on her jeans and turns back to Jim. “I had it covered.” She tells him, sounding disapproving but her eyes betray how grateful she is. “I’m not helpless.”

Jim shrugs. “Never said you were. I hate guys like that.” He wipes a hand across his face. It would seem to be his nose that was producing the blood. At the sight of all the red, Jim suddenly feels slightly sick. He wavers on his feet and Lenore is right there to try and catch him.

“Geez, you weigh a ton, Kirk.” She groans and pushes him back to his feet but she keeps an arm around his waist. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Jim stumbles along with her, grateful for her support. He just can’t seem to get one question out of his mind. “How’d you learn to do that? You just, like, took him out, Bones.”

“You ask me how I do things a lot, Jim. Did you know that?” Lenore chuckles.

Jim shrugs. “Stop surprising me and I’ll stop asking.”

“No promises, Jimmy. No promises.”


	5. Chapter 5

Jim wakes up in his own bed with a hangover from hell and no idea how he got there. Last he remembers, some idiot was hitting on Lenore. After that, nothing. He’s pretty sure he tried to defend her, “tried” being the operative word in the situation.

“You’re awake.” Lenore says, not really leading into anything else, just stating a fact. A fact which Jim resents.

Jim groans in response. His head feels like it’s being rented out the entire percussion section of the Chicago symphony orchestra. He wants to die because surely that would hurt less than ever part of him at this moment. 

“Alright, noncoherent Jim.” Lenore continues speaking despite Jim’s silent wishing. “Well, Uhura stopped by this morning. Apparently she was talking to Cupcake and he said something about the fight last night.”

This catches Jim’s attention. Cadet Uhura (first name still withheld) is good friends with the security track cadet who probably wants to bash in Jim’s face. Again. “How does Cupcake know about that?”

Lenore shrugs and rolls her eyes. “I honestly don’t know, but apparently he’s going to stop by later.” She eyes him and starts off towards the bathroom. “I recommend getting dressed before that. Also maybe don’t call him Cupcake.”

Jim makes a noise of protest and attempts to stand up. The pounding in his head increases and he groans, feeling like he might retch very soon if something isn’t done. “Bones, help me. I’m dying.”

He hears the older woman grumbling from the bathroom, followed by some rummaging around before she reenters the bedroom. Lenore stalks over to his bed and before he can do anything to protect himself, she jabs him in the neck with a hypospray. He rubs his neck and glares at his roommate even as he feels the pain dissipate in his head. “So much anger in such a small person.” He cracks a smile.

Jim watches the corners of Lenore’s mouth twitch slightly before she furrows her brow again. “Who do you think fills me with all that anger?”

“Come on, Bones! You couldn’t live without me!” Jim exclaims and jumps off the bed, feeling human again. He wraps his arms around Lenore and squeezes her tightly. “I don’t know what was in that, and I don’t really care, but thank god for it.”

Lenore sighs and tries to squirm out of his grasp. “It was just something to hydrate you and a bit of painkillers.”

“I said I don’t care.” Jim ignores her struggle. “But still. Thanks.”

Lenore lands an elbow in abdomen, a bit too close to a very sensitive area for comfort and Jim retaliates by grabbing her wrists with one hand, keeping his other arm wrapped around her torso. “Let me go, dammit.”

Jim laughs. “What? And miss some quality bonding time with my best friend? Never!” He exclaims.

“You know what I can do to people, Jim. Do you really want to play this game?” Lenore threatens and Jim has a flashback to the previous night. She did take out the massive cadet in an impossibly short amount of time...

Still, she’d never actually hurt Jim, would she? The still present sting from the hypospray would like to plead otherwise.

A quick series of twisting maneuvers which Jim has trouble even trying to follow end up with Jim pinned face down on the bed with Lenore sitting primly on his back, his arm bent awkwardly so that his hand nearly touches the back of his head. She laughs incredibly daintily and Jim groans. “You’re going to break my wrist, Bones.”

“No I won’t.” Lenore responds completely nonchalantly. “If I twisted it more like this.” She rotates his wrist even as she speaks and Jim squawks in pain. “It could break. But the way I have it now is completely harmless.”

Jim tries to turn his head to look at Lenore and only kind of succeeds. “I wouldn’t call it harmless.”

“It won’t cause any permanent damage, at least.” She grins down at him. It almost reminds him of the times before Sam ran away when he and Jim would ‘wrestle’ but in a way, which Jim can’t really identify, it’s completely different. His insides squirm slightly at the thought.

He decides to call it hunger because anything else is too hard to deal with. “Bones.” He draws her name out in a whine. “I need food like right now.”

Lenore sighs and hops off his back. “The way you eat, you’d think you never made it through puberty, I swear.” She raises an eyebrow at him when he still doesn’t move. “Well, aren’t you going to get up?”

“Can’t you just make me food? I’m tired and you’re wonderful.” Jim does his best puppy dog eyes at her and pouts. 

Lenore is unmoved. She turns on her heel to retreat back to the bathroom. Jim drags himself out of bed again. He trudges into the kitchen and pours himself a bowl of the sugary cereal that Jim loves but Lenore hates with a passion.

He eats the cereal with gusto, just waiting for Lenore to come in and yell at him for eating the stuff. Of course, his moment is ruined by someone knocking on the door. He glances down at his breakfast and decides whoever shows up at breakfast time is going to have to deal with the fact that he’s eating. He picks up the bowl and brings it with him to the door. “Bones, I hope you’re decent!” He calls out before opening the door.

It’s none other than Cadet Cupcake, looking slightly embarrassed, which is just so strange that Jim wants to pinch himself. “Cupcake? Are you okay?” Jim stands aside so that the other man can enter the apartment. 

Cupcake glances around and eyes Jim. “For the last time, it’s Hendorff.” He rolls his eyes and Jim can just feel that something has changed.

He does pinch himself this time as he sets his bowl of cereal down. “Whatever.”

Lenore comes in at this point and smiles at Cupcake. “Cadet Hendorff, how are you? Is your shoulder feeling better now?” She uses her doctor voice and looks up at him.

Jim wonders vaguely if her neck ever starts to hurt from having to look up all the time.

Cupcake rubs his left shoulder and smiles slightly. “Much better, thank you.” He turns to Jim, smile still on his face. “Your roommate is a miracle worker, I swear. I’ve dislocated my shoulder before and no one has ever dealt with it so quickly before. Barely hurt.”

Jim feels like he’s stuck in the twilight zone at this point. None of his encounters with Cupcake have ever been particularly friendly before and yet the cadet is in his home and he’s smiling. “Yeah, Bones is really good at what she does.” He narrows his eyes. “I suppose you’re here because you heard about the fight. What do you want?”

His words are met with raised hands. Cupcake shakes his head. “I’m not mad and I’m not going to beat you again, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He shrugs. “I’m here because the cadet you dealt with last night was my rommate.”

“Cadet McAwful is your roommate?” Jim blurts out without really thinking.

Cupcake just tilts his head to the side. “You’re a fan of nicknames, aren’t you?”

Jim nods enthusiastically. He doesn’t call a lot of people by their actual names. Mostly because he doesn’t learn their names until after he’s already named them himself.

Cupcake shakes his head. “Anyway, I got the call at a ridiculous time of night last night to come pick him up.” He continues with his story. “When I asked the bartender what happened, he told me that Michaelson was harassing Doctor McCoy here and you were just trying to get him to back off, Kirk.” He fixes Jim with a strong look. “It would seem I made some very wrong assumptions about you.”

Jim’s eyes go wide. Of all the ways he could have imagined this interaction would go, this was not one of them. Cupcakes beat Jim to a pulp the first time they met because he though he was harassing Uhura. (To be fair, Jim can accept that he was out of line.) He never would have expected an actual apology or anything from the man himself. “I-” Jim starts but he realizes he’s not actually sure what he was about to say. He pauses and furrows his eyebrows.

“Jim would like to say thank you, but I’m pretty sure you broke his tiny tiny brain.” Lenore speaks to Cupcake for Jim. She pats Jim on the shoulder fondly.

“Hey!” Jim protests once he’s able to speak again. “Thanks, man. I guess I was mistaken about you, too.” He grins and sticks out a hand. “Truce?”

Cupcake laughs and shakes Jim’s hand heartily. “Truce. To be honest, I don’t think a rivalry between us would end very well for either party.” He tilts his head to the side. “You know, we’re going to be needing a few new TAs for an advanced hand to hand class. Would you be interested?” 

Jim cracks a smile and shrugs. “Sure, man, but I think you might be more interested in getting little miss McCoy on board here. She’s the one who finally took McAwful out last night.” He gestures over to where Lenore stands, blushing slightly and studying her nails intensely.

Cupcake raises an impressed eyebrow and eyes the woman. “Really? Damn, that’s impressive. What do you say, McCoy?”

Lenore smiles and shrugs. “I’ll have to check it with my schedule at the clinic, but I’d love to.” She grins slightly sarcastically. “I mean, I think people should learn to fight smart, not just with pure brute force.” 

Cupcake nods at the both of them with an almost smile. “Well, I’d better be off to help Michaelson prepare for his hearing.” 

Jim raises his eyebrows in surprise. “What do you mean, hearing?”

“He’s had a...history of harassing the female cadets and getting into fights. He’s been on probation for a while after an event last semester and it would seem that he may be kicked out of the Academy after last night.” Cupcake speaks darkly. “He’s getting what was coming to him.” With that, he turns on his heel and exits the dorm.

Jim stares after him, still trying to process the events of the last fifteen minutes. He did not think this morning when he woke up that he’d be friends with Cupcake or that he’d end up getting a TA job.

He doesn’t even want to think about what Michaelson might have done to other people. The way Cupcake was talking about him made him sound dangerous.

“Jim?” Lenore snaps her fingers in his face. Jim starts slightly and Lenore grins. “I thought I’d lost you for a while there.” She takes in his expression and she immediately looks colored with concern. “Are you alright?”

Jim shakes his head and cards a hand through his hair. “I was just thinking about that creep. I don’t even know what would have happened if I hadn’t stepped in.”

Lenore purses her lips together. “Jim. Look, I can handle myself pretty darn well. I come from a place where people are either rich and mean or drunk and mean.” She shakes her head. “Even if you weren’t there-which you were, and that’s what matters-I would have been okay.”

Jim stares her in the face. “I just-I’ve never had friends before, you know? And I don’t want you to get hurt.” Jim’s lips press into a thin line. “I know that you can handle it better than even me, probably, but I can’t help but get scared.”

Lenore smiles and guides him over to his bed. She pushes him to sit down. Once he’s down, she rubs his shoulder gently. “I’m fine, Jim. You’re fine.” She turns and walks away, returning with a glass of water. “Drink the whole thing. Take some deep breaths.” She instructs firmly, not leaving his side.

Once Jim does as she says and calms down a bit, he meets her gaze carefully. He offers a small smile and Lenore’s mouth twitches slightly, hinting at a smile. “You okay now, champ?”

Jim grins back. “Yeah man. I’m cool.” He winks at her. “You’re kind of terrifying, you know?"

Lenore cocks her head to the side. "I'm not sure how to take that."

"Terrifying in the best way possible."


	6. Chapter 6

It takes about three weeks for Jim to finally talk to Pike about The Great Revenge. (Bones had rejected the name “Operation: McCoy Gets Back at Her Cheating Ex Wife”) During that time, Jim has time to compile the evidence (“Don’t even tell me how you got that information. I don’t want to get arrested.”), figure out the most effective way in which to truly intimidate Jocelyn, and write an entire script for Pike to read.

He accomplishes all of this in a week and tries to get a meeting with Pike but apparently the captain is “engaged in official business”, thus making him unreachable. Jim knows what it is, of course. Even without hacking into his schedule, Jim could rightly guess that he was involved in Michaelson’s hearing. Pike taught one class and he was high ranking, meaning that he had time and authority.

A no brainer. Jim did still hack into the system just for fun, though. He even left his “father figure” a lovely little note.

Which probably explains why he didn’t exactly get a choice of when to meet with him. It was a sharp knock on his door revealing a lieutenant who looked neat as a pin and frazzled as all getout all at once. (Someone had been dealing with Pike for too long.) A clipped message in strained tones before the officer marched off. 

“Bones! I’m going to meet with Pike!” Jim calls back towards where Lenore is getting dressed for class. He sighs and reaches for his red jacket on the hook by the door. He’s either going to end up in trouble or with exactly what he wants. Probably both, knowing Pike.

Lenore strides to the door. “You didn’t tell me you had an appointment. I’m coming with.” She reaches for her own, much smaller, jacket and shrugs it on. She’s opted for the pant uniform which she demanded be tailored to fit her small frame. (“I’m a doctor, dammit! I can’t have idiot interns and nurses staring up my skirt when I’m trying to heal, for fuck’s sake!”)

Jim sighs. “I didn’t make an appointment, Bones. I’ve been summoned.” He steps out into the hall. “You probably shouldn’t come.” He tries to wave her off and walk away but her footsteps follow him, stomping along in official Starfleet boots. “Bones.” He groans out and turns to face her. “I’m going to get yelled at. You don’t want to see that.”

He rethinks that for a second. Knowing Bones, and how much of an idiot she seems to think Jim is, she’d probably love it. “Rephrasing that. I don’t want you to laugh at me in front of my mentor.”

Lenore simply crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. Jim can’t even begin to imagine what any future children of hers would be like. Or any current children. Did she have any with Jocelyn?

“What are you going to get reprimanded for?” Lenore cuts off Jim’s train of thought with a sharp question. She doesn’t seem about to waver any time soon.   
Jim scrubs a hand across his face. “I don’t know, it’s Pike! Probably about the fight, maybe about the fact that I hack into his computer on a regular basis, who knows?” He throws up his hands. “Please just go intimidate some medical track cadets.”

Lenore shakes her head. “No way, James my boy. If you’re getting yelled at about that damn fight, I’ll tell him it was my fault. If it’s anything else, well I’ll just enjoy it.” She smirks at Jim and he wants to roll his eyes. “Besides, if you’re going to talk to him about the Jocelyn situation, my comm records are an important piece of the puzzle.”

Jim opens his mouth to retort, but it leaves his mind as soon as he does. There’s really no way to argue that. He could of course just steal her records, but without her testimony saying that she really does feel harassed, they can’t do anything. Of course, he’s learned not to admit defeat, especially to Lenore McCoy, so he simply turns around and walks down the hall. She gets the message, of course. 

They’ve been living together for two and a half months, nearly. If she doesn’t get what he’s saying (or not saying) by now, it’s too late. 

They arrive at Pike’s office in a few short minutes and Jim sits in one of the chairs outside of the door. It’s not the first time he’s been here and it won’t be the last. His assistant, an Ensign by the name of Richards, smiles and waves at him before eyeing Lenore. Apparently someone does not spend as much time as Jim in the official offices. 

He’s pretty sure no one does.

He sprawls out in his chair, slumping down and spreading out to get more comfortable. He half expects Lenore to sit with rigid posture to keep up her usual public image of professionalism, but instead she sits with a slight slouch. He almost sits up in surprise. Almost. 

Apparently Lenore notices his surprise because her face contorts into a questioning glare. “What seems to be the problem, idiot?”

“You’re slouching, Bones.” He grins back at her. “Like, actually slouching.”

She furrows her eyebrows further. “I slouch all the time.”

“Not in public.”

All he is met with is a flip of her hair and her turning away from him. And that’s another weird thing too. Lenore typically ties her hair back in some sort of bun, braid, or ponytail but today it’s hanging around her face in loose waves. It’s natural and it looks nice, but it doesn’t look like Lenore.

Something is very wrong here. Jim plans to find out but here is neither the time nor the place. This is to be an In Private Conversation.

The door to Pike’s office opens about two minutes later and no one exits. Jim had figured that he was in some sort of meeting. Apparently the bastard just wanted to make them wait.

Captain Christopher Pike stands in the doorway with rigid posture and a relaxed expression. His slightly wrinkled face settles into a small grin. “Jim, come on in.” His eyes finally land on Lenore. “And Doctor McCoy. I was wondering when you’d finally stop by!” He actually steps forward to shake her hand and guide her into the office. “I’m so pleased to finally meet you.”

“It would seem my reputation precedes me, Captain. All I know about you is that you’ve taken Jim under your wing for some reason.” She grins graciously and makes her way over to one of the nice leather chairs in front of his desk. 

Pike chuckles as he sits in his own desk chair. “Well, I did know his father so when I found him bloody on a barroom floor, I couldn’t just leave him.” His eyes crinkle up.

“Ah, I see.” Lenore nods fervently. “Yet another soul that has fallen prey to the Jim-Kirk-kicked-puppy effect.” She puts on an expression of false concern. “Don’t worry. It happens to the best of us.”

And doesn’t Pike just look fucking thrilled. He actually claps his hands as he laughs. Jim can’t help the scowl that settles across his features. “I’m still actually here, you know.” He mutters.

Pike turns to him, as if he’d actually forgotten about his presence. “Jim, she’s just as funny as you said.” This perks Jim up a bit. At least he’s being acknowledged.

Lenore, however, turns an odd shade of pink and she ducks her head down, quietly pleased. “You’ve been talking about me?” Her voice sounds quiet and slightly strained. 

“It would seem you have quite the admirer in Jim Kirk.” Pike remarks casually, with a look in his eyes like he knows something they don’t. Which is ridiculous, because Jim’s pretty sure he could easily find out whatever it is in about three minutes. “Anyway, I called you in here for a reason.”

Pike doesn’t sound angry, for some reason. That could probably be attributed to Lenore’s presence. She’s quite effectively charmed Pike and it seems to make the older man seem to be in a pleasant mood. “Yes, sir?” Jim asks, only slightly timid.

Pike leans forward and rests his elbows on the large mahogany desk. “You’ve been trying to get an appointment with me for weeks now, and I apologize for the fact that I haven’t been able to see you.” He begins, already sounding much more official. “That is, however partly because of you.” He doesn’t seem angry, still. At least not yet.

Jim opens his mouth to protest, but Lenore kicks him in the ankle at the same time that Pike holds up his hands in defense. He closes his mouth again.

“Michaelson was becoming a real problem around the campus. He had little to no respect for anyone and your fight was the final straw. For that, I thank you.” He inclines his head slightly towards both of them. “I’m sure you’ll be interested to know that he’s been expelled from The Academy and is now headed back home to Rhode Island.”

Jim perks up slightly. He’d seen the way that creep invaded Lenore’s personal space and manhandled her. If he was gone, that meant that he couldn’t do that to any more girls on campus, and hopefully learned a lesson from the whole thing. “That’s great, sir.” Jim grins at Pike.

“Sir? Come on, Jim. Just because McCoy is here doesn’t mean you have to go all Starfleet Command on me.” Pike jabs lightheartedly.

Jim sighs and corrects himself. “That’s great, Chris.” He rolls his eyes and shifts so that he’s slightly more comfortable in the expensive chair. “Happy?”

“Quite.” Pike nods once.

“Well this is all very touching.” Lenore cuts in, sounding exasperated but happy. “But I doubt that you called us in just to tell us that. What is it that you need to discuss, sir?”

“Damn, someone gets right down to business.”

“I’m in the game of saving lives, sir. There’s no time wasting in that profession.” Lenore speaks quickly and she sounds official. This is Doctor McCoy speaking, obviously.

Pike leans back in his chair, seemingly impressed. “I can respect that, Doctor.” His hands fold across his abdomen. “I, however, am not too sure why I called you in.”

This is met with two sets of raised eyebrows. Jim puzzles over this. Pike always knows what he’s doing. He’s always prepared with a complete plan. “Sir?” Lenore questions when Jim says nothing.

“You’ve been trying to reach me for nigh on a month now, Jim. What is it you want?” Chris raises an eyebrow and doesn’t move from his relaxed position. Somehow, he manages to look both intimidating and inviting all at once.

Jim’s not too sure where to begin, really. He can’t just burst on the scene with ‘We need you to take revenge on Lenore’s ex-wife.’ but he needs to get to the point quickly. He purses his lips. “Well, Chris, we need to ask you a favor.”

A shift in posture. Clearly Pike is worried about what a favor for Jim Kirk could entail, but Lenore being involved with the whole thing seems to make him feel slightly safer because he doesn’t just say no. “And what would this be, exactly?”

Lenore chimes in at this point. “Well Captain, as you may already know, I was married before I joined Starfleet.” She brushes her bangs out of her face with a small sigh. “Well, my ex wife has been...harassing me ever since I joined. I don’t know how she found out my comm frequency, but she’s been using it quite a bit.”

Pike’s expression tightens. “Oh?”

“She’s calling constantly and messaging me and I’ve had to silence it just so I don’t go crazy.” Lenore explains. “Half the time, I make Jim carry it just so I don’t have to see it.”

Jim nods, confirming her story. “It’s true, sir.” Professionalism might be necessary in this situation. After all, what their asking for could be seen as well outside the bounds of what a Starfleet Captain should be doing. 

“I’m assuming you need me to do something about this?” Pike shifts so that he’s once again leaning on his desk. “Though I’m not entirely sure how I can help.”

Lenore raises and eyebrow. “Does that mean you will help?” She doesn’t seem to be messing around at all. Understandable, really. She’s the one being harassed.

Pike seems surprised at her forwardness. He turns to her with slightly wide eyes. Jim watches them stare at each other, seeming to be both in competition and in agreement all at once. After a few breathless seconds, Pike nods. “Yes, yes I’ll help.”

Jim pumps a fist into the air. “Hell yeah!” He shouts in celebration.

Both of his companions simply stare at him blankly. Pike sighs. 

“Heaven knows I’ve got enough going on. There’s a goddamn crazy engineer in Scotland causing trouble.” He cards a hand through his hair. “Made Admiral Archer’s beagle disappear the other day and we’ve yet to find it. Not to mention the fact that I’ve got to be home for thanksgiving and if my sister makes one more comment about my job, I will actually scream.” Pike deflates slightly. “My point is, I’m certainly a busy man and I should say no, but for some reason I’m saying yes. So this had better be good, Kirk.” He clasps his hands together. “What do you want?”

Jim grins and reaches down into his bag. He plops a padd onto the desk. “Well, it all begins with the fact that Jocelyn Treadway was arrested in middle school for stealing nail polish.” 


	7. Chapter 7

Jim folds his arms in front of himself, bag slung across his shoulders, to keep out the slight chill in the air. The fifty three degrees fahrenheit of San Francisco is a lot warmer than Iowa in late November but it still nips at him slightly. He’s always been the one who absolutely hates being cold. 

It’s almost ironic, considering the fact that he was born in space and proceeded to live in the Midwest for most of his life. There was the brief stint while he was twenty one and he had just bought his motorcycle so he traveled the country doing odd jobs, but for the most part he stuck to the land of ice and snow.

Looking around at the lack of snow and parkas, he almost misses it. He misses the way it would freeze his nose and the way it would seem to seep into his very bones.

Speaking of Bones, he sees her walking across the quad hand in hand with Gaila. He watches as the two girls hurry along the sidewalk towards April Hall. 

He wonders how Lenore is feeling. He knows she’s probably freaking out, not that she’d let anyone see. Later in the day Pike’s going to call Jocelyn and serve up revenge Jim Kirk style. If Jim’s going to pull this off, he’s got to have a battle plan to keep Lenore calm. If he knows his roommate, and he does, she’ll be pacing and going red in the face before Jocelyn even picks up.

Jim’s never met this woman, he’s not sure he wants to, but if she can do that to Lenore McCoy, she must be terrible. Lenore is grumpy and she grouches more often than not, but she doesn’t get spooked. Lenore McCoy does not get nervous about yelling at someone. She faces problems head on.

Jim wasn’t prepared for Lenore McCoy to jump right into his life, and he’s certainly not prepared for dealing with a panicked roommate.

“Gaila has an exam tomorrow.” Jim’s planning is cut off suddenly by the sudden appearance of Uhura, first name still withheld. 

He starts and turns to the linguist. “What?” 

“Well, you’re standing in the middle of the quad staring at Gaila.” Uhura starts, straightening her half-up hairstyle. “I figured you were going to try and make ‘plans’ with her for tonight. I’m telling you she has an exam early tomorrow morning. I’m here to tell you she’s probably not available.”

Jim feels defensive all of a sudden. “Well, maybe I was staring at Lenore.” He crosses his arms in front of himself. “Did that ever cross your mind?”

He knows he’s said something wrong when Uhura smirks and raises her eyebrows at him. “Something you’d like to share with the class, Kirk?” 

And Jim just has to wonder why everyone gives him that look. He can’t even describe it, it’s a look he’s never seen before but it seems like everyone’s in on this big secret and he’s not allowed to know.

It’s frustrating but he has bigger things to worry about. “What are you even saying right now?” 

Uhura simply presses her lips together and mirrors his action of folding her arms. “Oh, nothing.”

Honestly, Jim could scream. He really doesn’t like not knowing what’s happening. Especially when it involves him. “Seriously, Uhura, what is it? Everyone keeps looking at me strange.”

Uhura fixes her hair once more and Jim has to wonder if it’s a nervous tick of some sort. “Don’t worry about it.” With that, she seems to be done with the subject and Jim gets the feeling that if he asks her, she’ll just walk away. “McCoy asked me to tell you that she has a meeting with her academic advisor but that she’ll meet you at Pike’s office at 6:30.”

Jim furrows his eyebrows. “I thought she hated her advisor. Something about him having rocks for brains and no sense of the real world?”

Uhura smiles. It sounds like something she would say. Jim’s fairly certain she did once. “I think she was reassigned. I don’t really know, I’m just a messenger.”

“More like she got herself reassigned.” Jim snorts. “Probably yelled at Pike until he worked it out.”

Uhura shifts her weight onto one foot. “Speaking of Captain Pike, why are you so tight with the Commandant of Cadets?”

From anyone else, Jim would assume they were asking if he was sleeping with Pike. Uhura has a little bit more respect for him than that, though. At least he’s assuming. “He knew my father.” He replies simply with a shrug. Of course it isn’t as simple as that. Things involving a Kirk never are, but Uhura seems able to accept it. “He’s keeping an eye out for me.”

“We wouldn’t want you to embarrass him, now would we?” Uhura teases with a grin. “It probably would not be good for his career if you turned out to be a failure.”

A retort bubbles up in his throat but he pushes it down because he knows who to fight, and Uhura is not one of those people. “So, what are you up to tonight? Want to finally take me up on my offer?”

“To sleep with you? No.” Uhura rolls her eyes.

“I’ll stop trying to bed you if you tell me your first name, you know.” Jim teases.

“Still not happening.”

Jim sighs in defeat and deflates slightly. He shrugs and adjusts his bag. “Well, sadly I have an interspecies ethics lecture that I’m not exactly allowed to miss so I have to leave your presence.” He fakes a pout to Uhura.

“How tragic.”

“You wound me!” Jim practically shouts, throwing a hand over his heart as he walks backwards away from Uhura. “Why don’t you care about me?”

Uhura throws her head back and laughs out loud. “It’s not me, it’s you!” She calls after him.

-

Jim arrives at Pike’s office by 6:15 because he knows Lenore is probably expecting him to be late. He walks through the too straight halls of Archer Hall and he can’t help but give the other people side glances and grins. Inside, he feels like he’s about to die.

What if Lenore freaks out?

What if Jocelyn isn’t intimidated?

What if this whole thing blows up in his face?

Jim feels simultaneously confident and terrified. On the outside, he’s got a mask of cool as a cucumber swagger and a smile. On the inside, he feels like he might throw up. It has to work.

It just has to.

He has no idea where it’s coming from, but he feels the desperate need to solve this problem for Lenore. He figures it’s because they’ve grown to be quite close throughout the months, but Jim can’t seem to rid himself of the idea that maybe friends don’t typically orchestrate elaborate revenge plans for their friends.

Then again, Jim’s never really been normal, so to speak.

He reaches Pike’s office and winks at one of the passing Lieutenants who work for him, who looks very harassed. Jim tries to hold in his laughter at the fact that even genuine Starfleet officers have trouble dealing with Pike. The man can be quite overwhelming at times. 

He intends to simply waltz on into his office because the man most likely does not have a meeting right before this greatest of all events, but he comes face to face with a closed and locked door. Jim is surprised, to say the least. Why would Pike schedule something so close to their plan?

The rational part of his brain tells him that Pike is a very busy man, but the “leap before you look” part whispers that something is afoot. Jim backs away from the door but doesn’t sit. Instead, he remains standing with one foot tapping away on the floor.

Patience may be a virtue, but Jim Kirk’s never been exactly virtuous.

The door slides open ten minutes later and Jim is surprised, to say the least. Lenore is standing there, looking slightly sheepish but altogether not really that ashamed. “Hey, Meathead.”

“Bones, he’s your new advisor?” Jim blurts out. “I thought he was only mine!”

Pike chuckles and shrugs. “Well, I decided that Doctor McCoy here needed some more adequate guidance in her career choices, so I took over her file.” He narrows his eyes at Jim. “Why? Are you jealous?”

Jim bursts out with a laugh that sounds slightly forced. “Why would I be jealous of Bones?” He starts towards the office, completely ready for the call. “It’s not like she’s stealing everything I have.”

Lenore smirks at him. “I don’t know, Jim. Maybe I’ll just make sure you never get anything that I don’t get ever again. Maybe I’ll switch to command just to piss you off.”

Jim’s mouth falls open. “You wouldn’t.” He gasps. “You love being a doctor too much. Right, Pike?” He looks desperately towards their advisor for help.

Pike simply rolls his eyes. “Why are you including me in this?”

“Because she’s stealing my mentor!” Jim states petulantly. 

Lenore sighs and rubs a hand over her face. “Look, I switched mainly because Pike is good friends with Phillip Boyce, whose work I studied for years. I think I can learn from the two of them how to be a better doctor.” She leans over towards him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to take your place as savior of the universe.”

Pike stares at the two of them before clapping his hands together. “Well, if this touching moment is over, I’m going to get some things in order before I place the call. You two need to be over there,” He points over towards a small area in the back corner of the room with a chess set. “So that your ex wife doesn’t see you. This needs to look, sound, and feel professional.”

Jim starts making his way over to the corner before he realizes Lenore is not following. He turns and offers a hand to help her up out of her seat. “Come along, Bonesy. We’ve got to prepare you to see your monster ex again.”

Lenore lets out a long shaky breath. “I haven’t seen her since the day the papers were signed.” She closes her eyes and simply breathes. “God, I hate her so much. She took everything from me.”

“The whole damn planet.” Jim quotes easily, surprised that he even remembers it. “Look, Bones, you’re going to be fine. She’s awful and she’s honestly not worth your time.”

“I married her.” Lenore sits down by the small table in the corner. “Dammit, I was married to that woman for years.”

“You were young and stupid.” Jim shrugs. “What we think is love can do that to a person.”

“Why are you doing all of this?” Lenore asks suddenly as she fixes Jim with a hard stare. “Why did you put this all together?”

Jim gapes for a moment. “Are you kidding me? Bones, she was harassing you. I couldn’t just sit there and let it happen.”

Lenore’s mouth falls open and her entire face goes blank and unreadable. She doesn’t seem to even notice that it’s happening. She just stares at Jim and he can’t seem to look away so he stares back.

She snaps out of it suddenly with a blush before smiling. “Thanks, Jim.”

And that’s all she says. No snarky comment about him ‘taking time out of his busy schedule’ or anything like that. Just a thank you.

“Any time, Bones. That’s what being a friend is.” He glances at the chess board on the table. It isn’t 3D chess like most people play nowadays, rather it’s an antique looking board made of fine wood. “Wanna play?”

Lenore shrugs. “I guess. I’m not that good at chess but I’ll certainly try.” She smiles and focuses on the board.

“Get ready to feel the pain, Bonesy.”

“Oh shut up, meathead.” She laughs and Jim is just glad she’s not pacing up and down the length of the large office.

They play in companionable silence for a few minutes before Pike clears his throat and announces that he’ll be starting the call.

He instructs the computer to call and it does. Ten seconds are spent with baited breath before the screen lights up with the image of a woman who looks like a genuine Barbie doll. Her hair is a clearly fake blonde and her make up is perfect. She looks like she tries to seem nice and gracious but she could easily take you apart piece by piece.

Jim can only assume this is the infamous Jocelyn Treadway. Judging by the way Lenore stiffens beside him, he’s correct. He has to bite his cheeks to keep himself from saying anything.

“Hello?” Jocelyn’s voice is sticky sweet and Jim is reminded of a character in an old book who was described as poisoned honey. 

Pike sits even straighter in his chair, not that Jim even thought that at all possible. “Good evening. Am I speaking with Mrs. Jocelyn Treadway?”

“Why, yes you are!” She genuinely sounds like one of those stereotypes from the twentieth century of southern women. “And who is it that I have the pleasure of speaking to now?” She fixes Pike with a brilliant grin. 

Jim hates her.

“My name is Captain Christopher Pike.”

“And what can I do for you?” She almost seems to be flirting with him.

“Well, Ma’am,” Pike starts, only to be cut off by Jocelyn.

“Please, call me Jocelyn. All this ma’am business makes me feel old.” She laughs and waves him off.

“Jocelyn, as Commandant of Cadets here at the Academy, I am responsible for making sure that all cadets are safe and comfortable so that they can live up to their fullest potential here in Starfleet.” Pike is back to business, not ready to be swayed by poisoned honey. “And something has come to light recently that is worrying, to say the least.”

Jim watches as Jocelyn’s face tightens slightly. “Oh?”

“Well, Jocelyn, the interesting thing just so happens to be Doctor McCoy’s communicator records. Since they are provided by the academy, we have access to records and we have noticed an excessive number of denied calls from you recently.”

The smile slips from Jocelyn’s face and she glares at Pike. “Look here, Captain, I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I can assure you that Lenore and I have unfinished business which really must be tended to.” 

Pike does not waver under the sheer force of her gaze, even though Jim himself feels slightly terrified. A quick glance at Lenore reveals that she looks like she might faint. “Mrs. Treadway, any business you had with Doctor McCoy ended the day you both signed those papers. She owes you nothing and I suggest that you respect that or I will be forced to report you for harassment and stalking.” He threatens evenly.

Jim’s entire body tightens in anticipation. He knows what comes next. 

“Oh yes, and how is that supposed to stop me?” Jocelyn sneers.

Pike holds up a padd. “You would have to be brought in and your background could possibly be revealed to those you know.” He doesn’t smirk, doesn’t raise an eyebrow, doesn’t do anything. He just stares at her, daring her to fight him.

Jocelyn finally looks slightly scared. “What is on that thing?”

“Everything you’ve ever done.” Pike states simply. “Any run in with the law you’ve had in your whole life. From the looks of it, you’ve had quite a few.” He raises an eyebrow this time. “If you continue to try to contact Doctor McCoy, I may be forced to use these.”

Jocelyn scowls at Pike. “Is this blackmail, Captain Pike?”

“Depends, are you going to continue to harass those under my charge?”

Jocelyn sighs angrily. “Consider her frequency forgotten.” The screen goes black and Jim feels like he can finally breathe.

He turns to Lenore and grins. “Well, Bones, looks like you’re finally free.” He slaps her shoulder. “How does it feel?”

Lenore smiles at him. “I feel great, Jim. A weight off my chest.” She breathes out. “Thank you so much, for everything. Not everyone would even try to do that.” She chuckles. “I’m pretty sure no one else would do that.”

Jim shrugs. “What can I say, Bones? I’m one of a kind.”

Lenore rolls her eyes at him. “That you are, kid.”


	8. Chapter 8

From: JTKirk  
To: LHMcCoy  
come ooooon bones! just let me do itt!!

From: LHMcCoy  
To:JTKirk  
Go away.

From: JTKirk  
To: LHMcCoy  
bones youll like it. promise.

From: LHMcCoy  
To:JTKirk  
Jim. Please Shut Up. Some of us are in class.

From: JTKirk  
To: LHMcCoy  
not until you say yes

From: JTKirk  
To: LHMcCoy  
bones im very good at it

From: JTKirk  
To: LHMcCoy  
bones youll have a great time guaranteed

From: LHMcCoy  
To:JTKirk  
Still no. Now leave me alone before I get kicked out of here. Boyce is a dick about this stuff.

Jim sighs and closes out of the messenger app on his padd. He turns to pay attention to the teacher of his Diplomacy and Safety class, also known as “Don’t get your crew killed on an away mission, morons.” He really should pay more attention, but everything about the class is so obvious.

Read up on culture before making contact.

Try to find even ground in negotiations.

Don’t offend them or their gods.

Jim’s known how to do this since he was eight. He may choose not to use it, but he knows how.

Not to mention how utterly the commander lecturing is. Jim has to wonder if he’s part Vulcan or something because the guy has zero emotion. Hell, he thinks even a Vulcan would show a little bit more enthusiasm.

Jim vaguely wonders if command track is worth it. He could hake a fair science officer or engineer. Maybe even communications with the sole purpose of bugging Uhura.

It’s not even the first time he’s thought about this. He’s expressed it to Pike many times and has come close to switching on at least three occasions. Not that Pike would ever let him. It would be “a waste of natural leadership ability.”

Basically, he’s going to be his father someday.

If only Jim knew what that means. He never actually met the guy and all he knows about him is the twelve minutes before he died. No one seems willing to share anything else about him from before that. Either that or they just didn’t care enough to take notice until those twelve minutes.

Jim decided a long time ago that comparing himself to that man was a pointless activity, which is why he could only scoff when Pike brought up his father in that shitty bar. The only reason he took notice was because Pike wanted him to do better. Doing better would mean he isn’t just “George Kirk’s son”.

He’s Jim Kirk. Not George. He was raised by Winona Kirk and a series of fake fathers. He’s a repeat offender with a genius IQ who joined Starfleet on a dare whilst drunk all to step out of the shadow of a dead man. He’s Jim Kirk, not George Kirk.

Jim just wishes others would get that. Even teachers and officers treat him differently.

He’s pretty sure Lenore gets it but then again she probably couldn’t give less of a flying fuck. She doesn’t care about his last name or his father or what he had for breakfast. To Lenore, he’s not even Jim Kirk.

To Lenore Helena McCoy, he’s just Meathead and he thinks he’s pretty okay with that.

“Alright, cadets, please read chapter eight of your text and answer the questions at the end. I expect this to be done by next week tuesday.” The ever so boring commander closes up class, finally catching Jim’s attention and he snaps to shove his belongings back into his bag. “Have a nice long weekend.”

Jim practically sprints out of the classroom, nodding in acknowledgment to several cadets who call out his name. Normally, he’d offer at least a few words of conversation to his peers, but he’s on a mission.

Jim needs to find Lenore and convince her.

He exits the building and starts heading over towards the clinic, where Lenore has a shift that she should be getting out of right about now. He checks his watch as he hurries over. Even if he doesn’t manage to catch her, they have the next hour together in hand-to-hand training but he’d like to catch her before that.

Right on schedule (as always), Lenore exits the clinic building looking bitter and cranky. She’s in the skirt uniform and looks like she had to rush to change out of her white scrubs more quickly that usual. In her hand she’s clutching a travel mug of coffee and Jim can’t help but roll his eyes. Of course.

“Bones!” Jim calls out and hops into a bit of a sprint towards her. He holds up a hand when she looks around. Rather than meet him halfway, of course, she simply stands in place with her arms crossed. Her left eyebrow is raised, as usual, and her expression depicts a dread of what Jim could possibly need from her. “Hey.” He speaks again when he finally reaches her.

“James.” She nods and starts walking towards the gym building. “I suppose you want to continue to pester me?”

Jim nods fervently as he tries to keep pace with her. Really, it shouldn’t be that hard considering how much shorter her strides are. “Bones, I really think you should.”

“And why would that be?” Lenore doesn’t even turn to look at him as she walks forward.

“Because,” Jim starts, drawing the word out extensively. “You’ve been divorced for months now. Jocelyn is no longer part of your life and I think it’ll be good for you.”

Lenore sighs. “Okay, let’s say this is a good idea, which it is not.” She hands Jim her coffee mug and starts braiding her hair as she walks and talks, fingers working quickly. “Even if I wanted it, why would I have you do it?”

Jim has to make himself stop watching in amazement at her multitasking skills. “Because, Bones, I’m really good at it.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Her tone is more than a little bit sarcastic.

“I promise! You’ll be happy with it or I’ll eat one of your socks.”

Lenore whirls on him. “Why not one of your socks?”

Jim shrugs and smiles. “Your feet smell worse.”

“Shut up.” 

Jim has to chase after Lenore when she stalks off grumpily. “Come on! Just let me do it! I promise it’ll go well!”

Lenore stops walking and slumps her shoulders in defeat. “Fine.”

“Fine what?” Jim has to be a little shit about the whole thing. It’s in his very blood.

Lenore closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Fine, Jim. You can set me up on a date with someone.”

By this point, they’ve reached the gym so Jim whoops and pumps his fist in the air before dashing in before her. He turns back to point at her “You won’t regret this, Lenore! Swear to...pick a deity!” He runs through the doors towards the locker rooms to change.

After changing into the regulation black gym shorts and gray t shirt for his TA job, Jim waits outside of the female locker room, bouncing on his toes. Lenore emerges after a few moments in a matching outfit, braid now pinned into a bun at the nape of her neck. She rolls her eyes at Jim when she sees him. “What do you want now.”

“What, a guy can’t walk to class with his best friend?” Jim asks innocently. He cracks a grin when Lenore simply stares back up at him. He would ruffle her hair, but he’s learned his lesson.

They start off towards the training room together, falling into step easily. Lenore pointedly does not say anything, obviously not willing to give Jim an opening to start pestering her again. 

Jim gets tired of waiting for her. “Okay. So, I have a few questions for you.”

Lenore sighs. Jim’s noticed she does that a lot when he talks to her. Most people do but not like Lenore. From others it sounds like ‘Lord please get me away from here right now.’ From Lenore it’s more ‘You’re such an idiot but I don’t completely hate you so keep talking if you must.’ Sort of a fond exasperation, as it were.

At least that’s what Jim would like to think. 

“Go ahead, James.”

Jim grins down at her even though she is not looking at him. “Alright, so we know you like females. Are you completely committed to just the one gender or are you open to...other options?” He speaks as if this is some very official survey.

Lenore pinks slightly. “I’m open to anything, really.” She doesn’t seem to be lying, but as she speaks it sounds almost kind of tight, almost as if she’s nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

Lenore coughs into her hand. “It’s just-it has been a while since I’ve been with a man...or any other gender besides human female.” She goes even more pink.

Jim furrows his eyebrows. “How long?”

Lenore lets out a long breath, as if she’d been holding it for a long time. “I was eighteen the last time. Just barely.” 

Jim can practically feel his eyes bug out of his head. “Bones, you’re twenty eight. Are you seriously telling me that it has been ten years?”

“I started dating Jocelyn when I was eighteen and then we got married, didn’t we?” Lenore purses her lips and they reach the training room. “Didn’t exactly have a chance to, did I?”

Jim puts a hand on her arm to stop her from entering the room. “Wait, you got married when you were eighteen?”

Lenore looks at her feet. “Nineteen.” She rises up on her toes and drops back down. “I was in love with her and she was very convincing.”

Jim scrubs a hand over his face. “We’re going to talk about this eventually but now is not the time. Now is the time to assist a teacher in helping people kick other people’s asses.” He releases her arm. “Also setting you up on a date.”

They enter the training room and only the instructor is standing there. Commander Rasth is a female from B’Scala, whose native species looks very similar to humans, save for the purplish tint to their skin and the rows of scales on their foreheads, hands, shoulders, and the backs of their ankles. They are known for their incredibly superior strength and intelligence. Perfect for teaching hand-to-hand, in Jim’s honest opinion.

Lenore and Jim, after taking Cupcake up on his offer and being put through the rigorous testing (both written and physical) required to become a TA for the classes, were placed together in three different sections of the class. Two of the sections are with Rasth, the other with a human male from Kenya named Abasi.

Essentially, the teachers are very muscular. And tall.

Classes were typically divided into sections based on strength and skill, tested during the registration and orientation process. Apparently, Lenore had gone easy on the test initially because she had been placed into a lower level section. The incident in the bar caused both Cupcake and Jim to demand that she be retested. After that, she was moved up into the section with Jim, one of the high level ones. Still, she often felt uncomfortable being with the bigger groups.

The first class they had assisted was with Abasi and it was comprised of mostly very large first year security track cadets. It had been interesting, to say the least. When Lenore had been introduced as a highly skilled TA, a few of them had laughed outright. Lenore had flushed red and Jim wanted to start throwing punches but he restrained himself.

It wasn’t long before Abasi gave Lenore the chance to prove herself by allowing her to spar with one of the cadets. A quick takedown earned her the respect she needed. Word spread quickly across the campus and their next class showed a bit more respect.

And even despite the fact that she was so good at it, Lenore didn’t like hurting people in classes. She would always demonstrate how to administer the most pain, but never actually inflict it. Lenore obviously believes that her skills are only to be used in emergency situations of self defense.

“Cadet Kirk, Doctor McCoy.” Rasth offers her hand warmly to the pair in welcome. “I am pleased that we will be working together again.” 

Lenore nods and shakes her hand quickly first. Jim takes it afterwards. “I’m happy to have to opportunity to work with you so much, Commander. I feel like I can learn a lot from you.”

Lenore nods fervently. “Yes, your skills are quite admirable.” She speaks in a tone that matches the formality of the commander.

Rasth’s visible scales turn a slightly darker shade of purple, the B’Scalan’s own version of blushing, and her lips quirk up slightly. “Thank you very much for your kindness.”

It takes about ten minutes for the entire section of cadets to trickle into the room, during which time Jim has the chance to really size all of them up. This group seems to be the scrawny-but-not-incapable group. Mostly science track, probably. One woman in particular looks so skinny that she could easily be snapped like a twig but her impressive height makes up for it.

He watches as they all eye Lenore carefully where she stands with her arms crossed and her legs shoulder width apart, looking slightly threatening.

Rasth welcomes the class quickly and introduces herself before turning to Jim and Lenore and introducing them. Jim waves. Lenore nods. Jim wants to die of laughter at how terrifying she probably looks to someone who doesn’t know her as well as he does. 

Rasth instructs them on the class rules before pairing them off into pairs to practice a few simple moves and spar a little so that she can “see their fighting styles.” Jim knows that’s just sugar coated talk for “see how bad you all are.”

Jim gets paired with the stick-like cadet and Lenore is matched with a shorter but still taller than her boy who looks incredibly nervous to be facing her. She offers him a real and warm smile which seems to relax him.

Jim positions himself and his partner so that he can still talk to Lenore while he spars. “So, I’m thinking we’re going to start you off with females to keep you comfortable when you get back into the game.” He easily blocks a shot from the cadet as he speaks.

Lenore rolls her eyes and pins her partner’s arms behind his back. “Whatever. I’m sure I’d be fine with something else, it’s just that it’s been a while.” She twists her partner’s wrist slightly. “Now, if you do this, you’ll be able to break either the wrist or the ulna, depending on the amount of force you put into it.” She speaks to her partner before gently untwisting it. “A girl would be nice to start out. Nobody annoying, though.”

Jim nods and swipes his foot out, knocking his partner down. “Alright. Any preference of track?” He offers a hand to help pull her back to her feet, which she takes. Once she’s back on her feet, she’s back swinging. Damn, this one’s feisty. Technique is sloppy but she’s got moxy.

“Don’t really care.” Lenore shrugs. She rolls her shoulders and goes back into a fighting stance. “Like I said, no one annoying.”

Jim nods and focuses on sparring. Rasth comes by a few times to fix the stance of the cadet, whose name he finds out is Garcia. Otherwise, it’s simply a game of ducking out of the way of badly placed punches.

A whistle blows to signal the end of the sparring period and Jim relaxes. The tension eases out of his shoulders and he lets go of a breath. The cadets all return to listen to Rasth’s instructions while Lenore and Jim hang back. Lenore whispers to Jim suddenly. “What are you doing for thanksgiving?”

Jim freezes. He hadn’t really given it much thought. He hadn’t actually put much weight on the slightly outdated holiday in, well, ever. His mother was always off planet and Jim just didn’t care. “I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“Because the long weekend starts on Wednesday and it’s Monday.” She turns to him and raises an eyebrow. “Do you honestly have nothing planned?”

Jim shrugs. “I don’t really want to do anything. It’s a stupid holiday from ancient history.” He cocks his head to the side. “What are you doing for thanksgiving?”

“Staying here, reading a book probably.” Lenore answers easily. “I used to go home for the holidays, but I’m not exactly welcome there now, am I?” 

Jim sighs and rolls his eyes. “Bones, do you want to spend thanksgiving with me?”

“It’d kind of be hard to avoid, considering how we live together.” Lenore retorts and Jim takes it as a yes. Of course she wouldn’t just answer that, yes, she would like to spend it with him. Oh no, that would be too difficult.

The rest of the class passes quickly with Rasth instructing the cadets and only using Jim and Lenore as demonstrations a few times. Jim allows himself to be punched (not with her full strength, of course) and twisted into various holds that will be taught throughout the course. He eyes Lenore, who simply smiles sarcastically at him.

A few times he just barely catches her looking at him with something other than sarcasm, but he brushes it off as an overactive imagination.

When they’re released and have changed finally, Jim meets up with Lenore outside of the locker rooms again. He grins at her and holds his hand up for a high five. “To another successful day of being the most kick ass TA’s in the Federation.”

“Not the universe?” Lenore questions. “What, do you think there are some Klingon TA’s who are just a bit better than us?” 

Jim fake frowns at her. “Why I never! Lenore McCoy, you wound me.” He clutches his hands to his chest and fake stumbles. 

Lenore just laughs and slaps his ass. “Come along, young James. It’s time to feed you.”

Jim straightens up. “I need to get you a date so that you’ll stop touching my ass.” He laughs.

“I’m sure you’ll try, Jim.” Lenore shakes her head and walks ahead, leading them on to the mess hall. “I’m sure you’ll try.”


	9. Chapter 9

Jim barely registers it when Lenore approaches him. “You know, Kirk, if the sun wasn’t out right now, I’d think you were stargazing.” She cuts into his train of thought with a laugh before sitting on the grass next to him.

Jim sighs and sits up. He turns to Lenore with a smile. “Yeah, well, they’re still out there, you know?” He sees the look of confusion flash across Lenore’s face and he continues, “The stars, I mean. Right there would be Orion.” He points to a patch of blue sky. “And over here would be the big dipper.” He moves his finger.

Lenore purses her lips at him. “You belong up there, you know?” She stares at him hard with something that Jim has been trying to figure out for weeks. It’s not bad, it’s just different from what he’s used to.

The air starts to feel tense and thick around them, so Jim laughs to clear it all away. “And you’re going to get over your aviophobia and come with me, right?” He knocks his shoulder into Lenore’s.

“Yeah, whatever.” She shakes her head and just like that, the moment’s over. She reaches into the paper bag she brought with her. “Alright, so I have some mashed potatoes, turkey sandwiches with cranberry mayo, stuffing, fried apples, and, of course, pumpkin pie.” She pulls container after container of food out of her bag. Jim spies things that she didn’t even mention. It’s far too much food for two people but he figures this is what Thanksgiving should be.

It’s his first one, really. “Why are we eating so early?” Jim rolls his shoulders and checks his watch. “Dinner at three in the afternoon?”

Lenore snorts out a laugh at him. “Sorry, Kirk, but this is how it goes. The McCoy family has always had Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon.” She finishes taking the food out of the bag. “Not about to change that for some whiny kid with the weirdest appetite this side of the Mississippi.”

Jim’s eyebrows knit together. “Uncalled for.” 

And of course Lenore cracks up at that because she’s just that kind of person. She tilts her head back and closes her eyes and Jim can’t seem to stop watching. 

“I brought wine.” He blurts out suddenly because he’s pretty sure he’s actually losing his mind. He reaches behind himself and pulls the bottle out. “Probably shitty stuff but, well, this is what I could get.”

Lenore smiles and takes it from him. “Well then, looks like we’ve got everything we need.”

Jim nods and he watches as Lenore piles their plates full of food, not even bothering to ask him what it is he wants. She hands him one and nods with a smile before going to dig into her food.

Jim eats with relish and wonders if the food is actually as good as it seems or if he’s just over romanticizing the whole thing. “Hey, Bones?” He looks over at her.

Lenore raises an eyebrow but doesn’t respond due to her current mouthful of sandwich. Jim almost wants to laugh and take a picture because never has Lenore McCoy looked more ridiculous.

“Wouldn’t you rather be home right now?” He can’t help but ask the question that’s been on his mind all day. “You really don’t have to be here with me.”

Lenore swallows and scowls at him. “Jim Kirk, don’t be an idiot.” She growls at him. “You are my family now. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here right now.” She raises her eyebrow again, as though daring him to challenge her.

Normally, Jim wouldn’t say anything more but today is different. “Really? There is nobody you miss back home?”

Lenore stops to think for a second and Jim can tell that, yes, there is someone. Probably multiple someones. People who aren’t Jim, who’ve known Lenore her whole life and who mean a lot more. “I guess I do miss spending the holidays with-nevermind.” Lenore cuts herself off and runs her hand through her long hair which is down for once.

She’s dressed in a maroon knit sweater, jeans, and a t shirt and she honestly looks more relaxed than Jim’s ever seen her. A part of Jim’s brain says that she also looks prettier but his rationality shuts that part out and he pushes it down. Besides, Bones is his friend. Nothing more. “Oh.”

“Christ, Jim.” Lenore takes a swig of the wine. “This is so weird. This isn’t us.” She closes her eyes. “Look, why don’t we just pack this up. Go do something fun.”

Jim almost breathes out a sigh of relief. Yeah, the whole thing had been feeling kind of weird and awkwardly formal. It had almost gotten into the emotional place they’d been carefully avoiding for months and he’s pretty sure that once they go places like that, it would be hard to go on like they had been. “Wanna go put mashed potatoes in Mitchell’s pillowcase?”

Lenore’s face lights up. “I’ll tell everyone you made me do it.” 

“I’d expect nothing less from you.” Jim starts packing up the containers of food.

Half an hour later, Jim uses the passcode Gary gave him one drunken night to break into his room, knowing that the other man is currently preparing for “the best thanksgiving party ever, man!” and won’t be home until it’s quite late and he’s quite drunk. Even better for what they’re planning. “Come on, Bones!” He calls down the hall to Lenore, who’s still walking up after putting their stuff in the fridge. She just shakes her head and continues at an even slower rate than before.

Jim scoffs at her and slips inside the room. She can knock if she wants to be like that. He smiles triumphantly at his small bit of power.

Except that he forgot about her medical override. Lenore enters with a look that clearly says she thinks he’s just about the biggest idiot to ever walk the earth. “Alright. I brought the mashed potatoes and some blue dye I stole from the lab a while back.” She holds up the paper bag. 

“Why do you have dye?” Jim is slightly worried about what her answer might be. 

“I wanted to put it in your shampoo.” Lenore shrugs. “It would turn your hair blue for about a week. I’m just gunna do it to Mitchell instead.”

Jim squawks in indignation and covers his head with his hands. “Why would you do that?”

“Because of reactions like that, assface.” She grins at him and turns on her heel to go do the deed. Jim would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see Gary’s reaction when he realized what had happened.

“I would vote for you for Federation President, you know!” He hollers after her before turning to the bed. 

“I’m a doctor, not a politician, dammit!” She calls back.

It takes them about twenty minutes to get everything they wanted to done. Jim puts mashed potatoes inside of Gary’s pillowcase. Lenore smears some under his mattress just for good measure after putting the dye in his various hair products and they get out of there, laughing the whole time.

They sprint down the empty hallway for reasons unknown and Jim whoops and jumps into the air. He hears Lenore grumbling about how his long legs make him faster so he turns back and throws the petite woman over his shoulder. “Come on, Bones! We’ve got leftovers to eat!”

“Put me down, dammit!” She yells back, but doesn’t kick or struggle and Jim can hear the laugh in her voice. “And they hardly count as leftovers if we put them away less than an hour ago.”

Jim reaches the turbolift and enters, still refusing to put Lenore down. “Still. We’re going to go back, stuff ourselves full of good food, and then go to Gary’s party.”

Lenore groans and slumps even more over his shoulder, resting her forehead on his back. “Do I really have to go?”

“Yes.” Jim confirms. “You do have to go, and you have to have a good time and look nice so that you can make everyone in the bar feel inferior.”

Lenore sighs happily. “I do like making people feel inferior.”

“I know, Bones.” Jim smiles even though she can’t see him. “I know.”

They reach their dorm with minor incident (“I’m sorry! I promise I didn’t mean to hit you against that wall!” “Oh yeah. Well, tell that to the bruise on my fucking head, asshole.”) and Jim finally puts Lenore down. She straightens out her sweater and hair.

Jim goes to the fridge and grabs the containers full of leftovers. “How long should I heat all this up for?”

Lenore waves him off. “Don’t bother. We can just eat it cold.” She grins and grabs some of the food and brings it over to the small table. “Come along, James.”

Jim shakes his head and follows. “I have a feeling this is not your first time doing Thanksgiving like this.”

Lenore snorts and shakes her head. She eats straight from the container of cranberry sauce. “My first ever married Thanksgiving. Jocelyn and I were too stressed to eat all the food we had made, so we just stuck it in the fridge and had Thanksgiving dinner for breakfast the next day.” She grins and it looks like she almost believes that she could blink and the old Jocelyn would be back in front of her again and she’d be younger again. Without all her problems.

Jim’s seen the lines that have begun to form around her eyes and he almost wishes it for her, if it weren’t for the fact that he would miss her. “Sounds like a blast.” He laughs and starts eating in the same fashion as Lenore.

“What about you?” She points an accusatory fork at him. “Best Thanksgiving memory?”

Jim’s stomach drops to his feet and he coughs awkwardly. “Don’t have one.” He mumbles. “Never really celebrated much of anything as a kid.”

Lenore’s smile drops immediately and she looks like she regrets everything she’s been saying all day. “Aw, shit, Jim, I’m sorry. I had no idea that-”

Jim waves a hand at her dismissively. “Shut up, Bones. I’m fine. I’m hear and there’s nothing majorly wrong with me.”

Lenore opens her mouth and Jim scowls at her. “There is nothing terribly wrong with me, despite what you might like to believe.” He grins at her wickedly. “At least I’m above average height.”

“Low blow.” Lenore frowns at him darkly.

“Only kind that’ll hit you, Bones.” Jim grins back cheerfully. He’s honestly glad that they maneuvered the whole ‘sad childhood boohoo’ moment so easily. 

They eat the majority of the food after that with copious amounts of ribbing and wine. Jim can’t seem to keep the grin off his face, even when his pants feel much too tight from the sheer amount of food they ate. 

When it’s all done, they store what little is left back in the fridge and face the reality that they actually have to be social later. “I just want to take a nap, in all honesty.”

Lenore chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Welcome to the world of post-thanksgiving haze.” She groans and starts towards the closet. “Sadly, you signed us up to hang out with Mitchell tonight.” She begins to rifle through her few dresses, considering each.

“Gary can be fun sometimes.” Jim defends his friend. “Wear the black one with the sparkles.” He flops back onto his bed with a groan. 

Lenore pulls out said dress and considers it for a moment before nodding. “Thanks, Jim!” She dashes off to the bathroom to get ready. “I hope you don’t need to use the bathroom for the next forty five minutes because I’m calling dibs!”

Jim shakes his fist at her in mock offense. “Damn you, McCoy!”

It takes him all of ten minutes to actually drag himself out of his bed and sigh at the mirror mounted on the dresser. He examines his various options of t shirts and jeans that make his ass look good before finally settling on a black v neck tee and dark wash jeans. After all, black is slimming and he’s sure he looks pudgy today. (He does not look fat every day, no matter what Lenore might say.) 

The pants feel a bit tighter than he’d like to admit.

Right at the forty five minute mark, Lenore emerges from the bathroom. Jim gapes at her, in her just-tight-enough short black dress and six inch heels (she’s still way shorter than him) with her makeup done dark. Her hair is pinned away from her face but it tumbles down her back in curls. Jim has to stop and wonder how she went from complaining about feeling too full to looking like this is forty five minutes.

This only helps to further prove his theory that Lenore McCoy is actually a magical being.

They arrive at the party about half an hour late and Jim hopes it looks fashionable, not ‘food hangover’-y. Gary manages to greet them at the door. He whistles at Lenore, who nods curtly at him before heading to the bar, and slaps Jim on the back. “Dude, do you always have to wear those shirts?”

Jim narrows his eyes at him in confusion. “What shirts?”

Gary flicks his bicep. “These shirts that just show off how much better at pushups you are than the rest of us common folk.” He shakes his head and continues to steer Jim toward the dance floor. “Really quite inconsiderate of you.”

Jim gets roped into dancing with girls and guys alike, all of whom grind against him dirtily, clearly looking for something a little more private from him. He grins and throws his head back, letting the beat of the music flood through him and he loses himself. He opens his eyes again and sees Lenore a few yards away, dancing with some blonde he thinks he recognizes from the science track.

She’s got a light blonde bob and she holds onto Lenore like she never really wants to let go. Jim accidentally makes eye contact and feels something cold flush through him. He pushes away from the nameless man with brown hair and is met only with a grin and a shrug.

Jim finds himself at the bar a few minutes later, staring at Lenore and her dance partner. Lenore leans up to whisper something to her partner. Jim feels angry, for some reason. Probably just tired from all the food. That mixed with copious amounts of alcohol is probably not the best mix in the world. He rolls his shoulders to brush it all off.

Now is not the time to have an emotional crisis. He’s pretty sure Gary would actually kill him. So, of course, he orders a drink.

He drinks but can’t seem to stop watching Lenore and her mystery girl. A few times, Gary catches his eye and his friend only gives him a slightly sad look.

Why is everyone being so fucking weird lately?

He stops drinking when Gaila comes up, wearing a dark orange dress that looks absolutely stunning with her skin. She walks right up to him and into his personal space. “This is a strange holiday, James.” She purrs. “An entire day to be thankful?”

Jim laughs and nods. “Outdated, too.”

Gaila gives him the once over before smiling with approval. “Come home with me tonight.” 

Jim nods dumbly. A mix of Gaila’s pheromones and the beer have him thinking that it’s a very good idea indeed. “Sure. Going to show me how thankful you are?”

“Oh yes.” Gaila steps even closer and her hands splay across his chest. Jim’s back hits the bar. “I am very thankful for several assets of yours.”

God, Jim loves holidays.

Lenore comes out of nowhere, looking slightly red in the face but happy. She lifts herself onto a barstool. “Hey, you two.” She greets them as if Jim isn’t currently wearing a Gaila blanket. “Having fun, I assume?”

Gaila peels herself off of Jim and grins brightly. “Oh yes. This strange holiday is most festive.”

Lenore chuckles. “Festive, indeed. And you, James? Getting everything you need?” She raises a sly eyebrow at him. Apparently she didn’t miss the whole ‘Gaila blanket’ thing.

“Yeah, I’d say.” He scoots over to her. “Hey, I just wanted to say thanks. You’ve made My first Thanksgiving pretty awesome.” He stares down at her, the height difference made less dramatic by the stool. “Thank you.”

Lenore stares into his eyes wordlessly for a few moments before suddenly jerking forward and kissing him on the cheek. It’s over before it really began, but Jim’s cheek burns afterwards. His eyebrows knit together. He’s confused, to say the least.

It’s not like Lenore is adverse to showing affection. She and Gaila are almost always holding hands. But that’s Gaila. She basically lives for physical touch and it doesn’t mean anything more serious. Lenore has to know that Jim is different. Even with casual sex, every touch means something, which is why he has more of a system of fuck buddies rather than random one night stands. The point is, Jim Kirk does not simply kiss his friends on the cheek.

Before he can actually ask about any of it, though, Gaila tugs on his hand insistently. “James, let’s go back to my room.” She whispers into his ear before turning to Lenore. “I am very sorry, but I must be taking James with me now. We have plans.”

Lenore smiles tightly and nods. She tilts her glass at both of them. “I am sure you do. Go along, then. Carol is waiting for me, I’m sure.” She motions over to her mystery dancing partner from before. 

Apparently her name is Carol.

Jim nods dumbly at both of them at lets himself be dragged out of the bar, all the while staring at Lenore, who seems to be purposefully looking away from him.


	10. Chapter 10

“Bones, I have the perfect girl for you. She’s a third year command track and she’s really nice and-” Jim bounces into their dorm and throws his arms out. His elbow makes contact with something very solid indeed. “Shit, sorry.”

Lenore glares up at him and rubs her nose. “I’m not going on a date with your command track friend.” She checks her fingers for blood and seems content when there isn’t any major bleeding. “Not after that blonde engineer with the tongue ring.” She raises an eyebrow at him. “That was a nightmare and I will probably always hate you.”

Jim wants to laugh but he knows that could probably have deadly consequences. Even he can admit that the date was disastrous. He had thought that the girl was nice but apparently the date went bad when she kept talking about her various trips to Orion and how much more sensual the people were there. Lenore right out left when she tried to feel her up under the table. "Come on, this girl is so much nicer than her.”

“I’m not going to go out with her and that’s final.” Lenore walks over to her closet and starts considering her few civilian clothes. When she sees Jim still standing there, she stares at him blankly. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Suddenly, Jim is struck by a realization. “Bones, you’re going on a date, aren’t you?” Jim grins and claps his hands. “Alright!” Who with?”

Lenore shakes her head and clearly tries to hide her smile by looking further into the closet as if it would make more clothes appear. “Shut up.”

“Who?” Jim pokes her in the side. “Bones, who are you dating?”

Lenore sighs and finally turns to face Jim. Her eyes seem to search his face for a minute before sighing and letting her posture drop. “Carol Wallace.” She purses her lips and glares at him. “Are you happy now?”

“The girl from the club?” Jim remembers Lenore’s dance partner from thanksgiving and for some reason his stomach drops straight down to his feet. He can’t really pin down what it is he’s feeling, but it’s not necessarily a good feeling. 

Lenore cocks her head to the side and one of her eyebrows makes a very clear bid to try and join her hairline. “Yes, the girl from the club. Do you have a problem with that?”

Jim stares at his feet. He really shouldn’t have a problem with it. It’s Lenore’s life, not his. She can date whoever she wants to. “No! Why would I have a problem with that? She seems really cool.”

“You do realize you’ve never had an actual conversation with her, right?”

“Yeah, well. She seems cool.”

“Hey, Jim.” Lenore surprises him with a gentle hand on his arm and an even more gentle facial expression. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to get replaced.” She smiles and slaps his arm lightly. “You’re still my idiot best friend.”

Jim grins down at her. He wraps his arms around her and lifts her off the ground. “Aw, Bones! You do have a heart!” He exclaims as loudly as possible without disturbing their neighbors too much.

Lenore kicks him in the kneecap and he drops her with a shout. She straightens out her uniform before returning to glaring. “Really, I don’t know why I even try.”

Jim grins and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Bones, I am so proud of you.” He pinches her cheek. “Little Bonesy growing up and going on dates!” He pats her cheek twice before heading off to the bathroom. 

“Dammit, Jim! I am older than you and I used to be married! I’ve dated before and I will date again!”

Jim closes and locks the door to the bathroom. He stares himself in the face in the mirror. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Kirk?” He speaks aloud, not loud enough for Lenore to hear, but just loud enough to try and slap some sense into himself. The sinking feeling is still present in his stomach and he can’t seem to make himself smile. He’s sure that he should be congratulating Lenore profusely and making stupid jokes as she gets ready.

But he can’t seem to do that lately.

Even the dates that he sets her up on always come paired with some sort of feeling of loss on his part. He’s not sure where the fuck it’s coming from. Maybe Lenore is right and he’s just feeling like he’s being replaced. Whatever it is, he needs to get over it. Lenore looks happier than he’s ever seen her before and he’s her best friend.

He pulls out his comm. “Kirk to Mitchell.”

“Yo, J dog!” Gary’s voice comes through and Jim can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Hey, Gary.”

“What is up, my brother?”

Jim snorts. “Why are you talking like that? You sound like a 20th century period piece.”

Jim can practically hear Gary shrugging. “Just trying some new stuff out. So, what’s up? We gonna go out tonight and get some ass?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to help me get back at Lenore for dyeing your hair blue.” Jim leans against the sink and smirks. Of course Gary’ll take him up on it. His hair was bright blue for about two weeks and he still glares at Lenore whenever she passes him.

“Fuck yeah.”

“Alright, well she has a date with Carol tonight so it should be a good time to do it.”

Jim is met only with science. “Gary?”

A sigh. “Look, I’m all for a little friendly revenge but I don’t want to get in the middle of anything with you two.”

“What are you even talking about?” Jim pushes off the counter and crosses one of his arms across his torso defensively. 

“Look, just because she’s dating Carol doesn’t mean you have to-” Gary marches on.

“What the hell are you talking about? This is just a prank!” Jim cuts him off with a shout.

“Jim.” Gary sighs again. “We all know about you and Lenore and I just don’t want to be in the middle of it.”

“Lenore and Me? What about us?”

“Well, you’re in love with her, aren’t you? Anyone with eyes can see it.” 

Jim chokes on nothing at all and starts stammering. “What? I-We’re not-What the hell, man?”

“The way you look at her, the way you’re constantly defending her, you’ve said yourself that you would do basically anything for her. You ditch me all the time just to tell her about how you fell down the stairs!” Gary explains. “Dude, you have it bad.”

“Just because I do all that doesn’t mean I’m in love with her!” Jim shouts into the comm.

A knock sounds on the door. “Jim?” Lenore asks quietly from the other side of the door.

His heart rate picks up exponentially like he’s just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Which, of course, he wasn’t. He’s just talking to Gary. “Yeah, Bones?”

“I’m going out now. I’ll be back around eleven.” Her voice sounds oddly quiet but it’s probably just the door between them. “Bye.”

“Bye, Bones! Have fun.” He gives her a farewell before turning back to his comm. “I’m not in love with her, Gary.”

“Do you even know what being in love is like?” Gary’s voice sounds uncomfortably condescending. 

“And I suppose you do?”

Gary scoffs. “Yes. Because unlike some people, I’m not an emotionally stunted idiot. Trust me, you’re in love with Lenore.”

“I have to go.” Jim hangs up on Gary before the other man can protest. He meets his own eyes in the mirror again as if he could find the answer in there. Nothing.

He paces around the small space. He can’t be in love with Lenore. He would have realized it before, wouldn’t he?

He should have, at least. Jim might not be the smartest man alive, but he’s pretty sure he should be able to identify his own emotions at the very least. He’s smart enough for that.

He thinks.

He whips out his comm again and flicks it open in a slight panic. “James Kirk to Winona Kirk.” His voice shakes slightly.

“Jim?”

“Hey, Mom.” He smiles, feeling some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders at the sound of her voice. 

“What’s wrong?” Leave it to Winona Kirk to get right down to business and immediately know what’s happening. “Jim, are you alright?”

“I don’t really know?” It comes out as more of a question than he’d like but Jim seemed to lose control of his life a long time ago. “I’m just kind of confused, I guess.”

“Are you going to tell me what about?”

Jim chuckles and scrubs his hand over his face. “What was it like before you and dad dated? Like, when he’d go out with other people.”

Winona sighs. “I would feel...disappointed. It always felt wrong when he’d talk about being out with someone else.” There’s a very pregnant pause. “Jim, are you trying to tell me something?”

Jim groans and closes his eyes. He pinches the bridge of his nose and it reminds him of Lenore for a second. “Gary says I’m in love with Lenore.”

“Are you?”

“I don’t know! I know that I care about her a lot and that I don’t want her to not be around. I want to talk to her all the time. About everything. She’s my best friend. I never thought I’d have someone like her in my life and I don’t want to jeopardize that.” Jim sighs and slumps against the door.

“Jimmy, you sound an awful lot like your momma.” Winona’s smile is evident in her voice. “I can’t tell you if you’re in love with her or not, that’s all you. But I can tell you that whatever it is you have with that girl, it’s special. You lose that, I will be very disappointed.”

Jim laughs nervously. “I know, Mom.” He lets out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding in. “Mom, I think I love her.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“She has a girlfriend.” Jim closes his eyes as the swooping feeling in his stomach returns. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What you don’t do is sabotage her relationship. She will hate you forever if you do that.” Winona’s voice is stern. “And don’t go acting all weird. If she likes you back, it’s because you’re you. Don’t go changing your behavior.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“Are you coming home for Christmas?”

“Yes.”

“You should bring Lenore.” Winona says it in a way that doesn’t leave room for deviation. “If what you’ve told me is true, that girl doesn’t have anywhere to go.”

Jim nods even though she can’t actually see him. “Okay. I-I’m gonna go, Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Be careful, Jimmy. You’ve always had a soft heart and I don’t want to see it broken.” Winona practically whispers it. “I know I was a failure as a mother for a while and I left you alone for too long but I know you and I care about you and-”

“Mom, you weren’t a failure.” Jim cuts her off firmly. “You were as good a mother as you could have been. I love you.”

“I love you too, Jimmy.” Winona makes a kissing noise into the phone before hanging up.

Jim slips his comm back into his pocket. He groans and slumps against the door. He slams his head against it. This is just perfect.

Of course he’s in love with Lenore. Of course it took him this long to figure it out and effectively missed his chance.

It’s a stupid thing to think, he knows. He doesn’t know if she loves him or even likes him romantically. 

All he knows is that he cannot lose her. He cares about Lenore McCoy more than he thinks he’s cared about anything before.

He lets himself out of the bathroom and wanders into the main area of their dorm. He’s not quite sure what to do with himself at this point. The person he would normally talk to is the person he wants to talk about and he’s not sure if there’s anyone he trusts enough to talk to.

There’s his mother, of course, but she probably doesn’t want to stay up all night with her son who’s pining over a girl. Jim’s just not quite sure what to do with himself.

He’s pulled from his thoughts by the chiming of Lenore’s personal padd. He picks it up just to see who it is and tell them that she’s not here. When he sees the name “J. McCoy”, he can’t help but answer it just out of curiosity. He’s pretty sure Jocelyn didn’t suddenly change her name back to McCoy just for kicks or anything. He picks up.

“Hello?” Jim answers the video call.

“Who are you? Where’s my momma?” The little girl on the screen demands.


	11. Chapter 11

“Who are you? Where’s my momma?” The little girl with dark brown hair and big brown eyes demands. Jim’s mind goes completely blank.

His mouth falls open and he can’t seem to find the right words. He knows that this little girl is probably talking about Lenore. This is the woman’s personal padd and the name was “J. McCoy”. All roads lead to Lenore McCoy.

But Jim can’t really bring himself to accept that conclusion. Surely, Lenore would have told him about having a child. She would have mentioned it or at least had pictures sitting around. This child cannot be Lenore McCoy’s because Lenore McCoy does not-cannot- have a child. Jim simply cannot comprehend it. 

“Mister? Are you okay?” The little girl asks and it certainly does remind him of a certain doctor.

“Sorry, who are you looking for?” Jim manages to actually get some words out.

The girl sighs and purses her lips at Jim. “I’m looking for my momma.” She speaks slowly. “Her name is Lenore McCoy and she’s a doctor and she’s in Starfleet. Who are you and where is she?” 

Well, there goes all of Jim’s denial on the subject. He’s looking at a bona fide McCoy child. It’s a bit intimidating. She stares at him with the same questioning facial expression that her mother uses constantly when talking to Jim. “Your mom is...out right now.” For some reason, he can’t really seem to form intelligent sentences.

“Are you her boyfriend?”

Jim chokes on the air and splutters. “No! Why would you-Bones-Lenore-er-your mother and I are not together. I’m just her roommate.”

The little girl laughs at him mercilessly. “Geeze, Mister. I was just askin’.” She narrows her eyes at him. “What’s your name?” 

“Jim.” He can’t but feel like he’s being judged by Lenore herself as her daughter stares him down. “And you are?”

“Joanna. Joanna McCoy, even though my other momma wants me to be Joanna Treadway. But I told her no way was I takin’ the name of that idiot. I don’t wanna be Joanna Treadway. I like McCoy very much, thank you.” She huffs and tucks her hair behind her ear. “When is my momma going to be back?”

Jim checks his watch. 8:30. Lenore won’t be back until about 11:00. “She’ll be back later tonight. You might want to call her tomorrow.”

“Is she working?”

Jim nods. “Something like that.” He rubs the back of his neck and gives her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry she’s not here now. I know what it’s like to not see your mom a lot.”

Suddenly Joanna’s face takes on a completely different look. Almost like she’s eager to talk to Jim suddenly. “Really?”

Jim nods. “My mom was in Starfleet when I was a kid, too. I only really got to see her when I called her ‘cause she was in space all the time.” He ducks his head and coughs, trying to ignore the slight thickness in his throat. “Kinda sucks, right?”

Joanna casts her eyes down and gives a serious nod. “Ma and Clay say that Momma’s a drunk and that she’s mean.” She looks back up at him and her eyes are full of tears. “I just miss her.”

Jim watches her bring her fists up to rub furiously at her eyes and his heart breaks a little bit. Not only is she missing her mother, but her stepdad and her other mom are telling her that she shouldn’t. “Hey, Jo, it’s okay. I know what it’s like, remember? You can cry a little if you want to.” He almost wishes he could reach out and give her a hug.

He only met her a minute ago and he already cares about this kid.

Joanna presses her lips together even as a tear rolls down her cheek. “Sorry. I know I should be more grown up.”

Jim’s eyebrows draw together. “How old are you?”

Joanna sniffles and wipes at her nose. “Seven and three quarters. I turn eight in March.”

Jim gives a short laugh. “Why are you trying to be a grown up, then? You shouldn’t have to grow up.” He can feel himself becoming increasingly passionate as he speaks but he can’t hold it back. He knows what it’s like to “be grown up.”

Joanna’s eyes go wide. “Really? But ma always says-”

“She’s wrong.” Jim assures her. “You’re seven years old. Play with legos. Steal cookies. Cry a little.” He smiles softly at her. “And keep your chin up, kid.”

Joanna breaks into a grin and she wipes the last few tears off her cheeks. “Thanks, Mister Jim.”

“Any time, Miss Joanna.” He smiles back at her. 

He decides that even if it is a bit strange that Lenore has a daughter and didn’t tell him, at least the kid is cool. He can be okay with it. Eventually. 

Except that she didn’t tell him. Lenore did not want Jim to know about her daughter. She had a hard time even telling him about her ex wife. She obviously doesn’t want him to know anything about her life outside of Starfleet but now he knows. He can’t exactly come out and say ‘Hey, I met your daughter. She’s cool.’ Lenore doesn’t want him to know about her life. 

But he can’t pretend that he doesn’t. He can’t just act like he doesn’t know any of it. It doesn’t help that he just realized he’s in love her in the last two hours. He needs to figure out a plan. “Hey, Jo. Do you want to-”

“What the-Jim! What are you doing? Jo?” Jim is cut off by Lenore’s sudden entrance. He hadn’t even noticed the door opening but there she is, looking absolutely furious.

Jim hops up from his seat on the bed. He holds the padd to his chest defensively, leaving the screen facing out. He says “Bones!” at the very same time that Joanna shrieks out, “Momma!”

Lenore crosses the room quickly and snatches the padd out of Jim’s hands. Her face shifts to be slightly softer with a small smile creeping across her lips. “Hi, Jo Baby. I didn’t know you were calling tonight.”

“I just wanted to talk to you but Mister Jim said that you were out and we were talking. He’s really nice, Momma.” Joanna speaks quickly. Jim can’t help but smile.

Lenore’s face tightens a bit but she keeps her smile. “Oh, Jo. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you about my science project and this one girl at school who’s really mean. She said the other day that you’re-”

“Look, Joanna. Momma’s really tired and you should be going to bed anyway. Can I call you back tomorrow?” She looks almost sad when she says it.

“Oh.” Joanna sounds on the brink of tears once more. “Alright. I love you. Good night.”

“I love you too, JoJo. Good night. Sleep tight.” She clicks off the transmission and throws the padd on the bed. Jim stares at it and then turns to Lenore.

“She’s really great, Lenore.” He tries to cut through the almost painful tension in the air. 

Apparently his voice is all it takes for Lenore to break. She storms up to him and crosses folds her arms. “What the fuck, Jim?” She enunciates each word carefully. “What on earth did you think you were doing talking to my daughter?”

Jim takes a step back and clears his throat. “She called and I picked up to tell whoever it was to go away but then it was this kid and she said you were her mother and-”

“I honestly don’t care. You answered my personal padd and carried on a conversation with my daughter. You did not have my permission and I can’t believe that you actually did that.” She purses her lips and turns away from him.

“And that’s just it, isn’t it?” Jim blurts out. “You refuse to give me permission to know anything about you!” 

Lenore turns back, this time looking absolutely furious. “What does that even mean?”

Jim folds his arms across his chest defensively. “It means that you refuse to tell me anything about you at all. You obviously don’t want me to know you. I just don’t get it, Lenore. I just don’t understand why you block everyone out!”

Lenore’s face falls completely and she just stares at him. They stand in silence for what seems like an eternity until her face slowly shifts to anger again. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Jim.” She grits out between her teeth. 

“Of course not. You won’t tell me.” Jim retorts easily. He hadn’t meant to get so angry. He wouldn’t have picked this but here they are and Jim can only really feel fury. He wishes he could stop himself. 

Lenore takes a step away from him and crosses her arms. “You’re right. I don’t want you to know about my life. I had a problem with you even getting involved with the whole Jocelyn thing. I didn’t want you to know about Joanna and I certainly didn’t want you to talk to her.” She tilts her head to the side. “You just can’t help but be yourself, can you?”

Jim feels like someone punched him in the stomach. It takes him far too long to find his voice. “What? What do you mean, be myself?”

“You push, Jim.” She spits out. “You push and push past what’s comfortable. You don’t care about what anyone else wants or needs, you just push. Who else matters when Jim Kirk is involved?” She eyes him up and down. “God forbid anyone get in the way of your fighting and sleeping around.”

And Jesus. If Jim felt like he got punched before, this is like being shot. He’s completely floored. He’s not even sure what to say or do. He just stands there and stares at her.

It’s not like it’s new information. He knows that a lot of people felt that way about him. They all think he’s this giant storm of self involvement and fucking anything with a pulse. He knows that.

But this is Lenore. This is Bones.

The woman who said he was her best friend. The woman who punched a guy out in a bar and who always put Jim back together after a fight. This is the woman who laughs at him and teases him but she obviously cares. This is the woman he’s in love with.

“I think you should find somewhere else to sleep tonight.” Lenore doesn’t look at him when she speaks. She stares at the wall and clenches her jaw. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here.”

Jim starts. “Bones, I live here. Don’t kick me out of my own place.” His voice cracks a little and he almost crumbles. “Don’t do this, Bones.”

“Don’t call me that.” Lenore’s voice stays as steady as her hands. “Please. Just go. We can talk tomorrow if you want but I can’t be in here with you tonight.”

Jim stares at her openly and she still refuses to look at him. The wall seems to hold her interest quite well. Jim swallows the lump in his throat and rolls his shoulders. “Fine.” He stalks over to the closet and grabs his small duffel out. “I’ll go. Whatever.” He shoves a uniform and a pairs of sweats in the bag. “See you whenever, Lenore.” He can’t help but spit out her name as if it tastes bad on his tongue.

To be honest, it kind of does. Lenore is not her name. Not to Jim. She’s Bones. She will always be Bones. “See you around, Kirk.”

He pauses at the door and spares a glance back at her before exiting the room. The door slides shut behind him with a small noise and he slumps against it. 

He slides his comm out of his pocket and taps on a familiar frequency. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself to be able to actually form words.

“Hey, Pike. I need to talk to you about something. It’s kind of urgent.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chris Pike has a townhome just off campus. The furnishing inside is nice, when it’s not accompanied by a moping Jim Kirk. Somehow, the leather sofa looks a lot cheaper when there is a twenty two year old draped across it. Even more so when that twenty two year old has been wearing the same pair of sweat pants for three days. “James. You should talk to her.” Pike shoves Jim’s feet over and sits on the couch.

Jim groans and rolls over, effectively burying his face in the chocolate brown leather. He doesn’t want to talk to her. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. He wants to sleep on this sofa forever and never face anything ever again.

He fucked up badly, he knows. Jim crossed a line. He pushed. Even before answering the call on her padd, he knew it was a bad idea. Ignoring it and figuring out a way to face his feelings probably would have been a better idea.

Now he’s three days into a silence he never thought would happen and he hates himself. He could have prevented it. He shouldn’t have said what he did. He should have been more considerate. He shouldn’t have talked to Joanna.

He shouldn’t have been himself.

Lenore’s words have been echoing around his head for the past few days and he’s not sure if it will ever stop. Of all the people in the world who he would expect to say something like that...Lenore didn’t even make the list. She was someone he could count on.

So now Jim is laying on Christopher Pike’s couch, feeling bruised and battered. Even if there are no physical scars to show it. 

He can feel Pike staring at him, so he rolls just enough to make himself heard. “She doesn’t want to talk to me, she made that clear.”

“Did she?”

Jim sighs and sits up. He glares at Pike from the opposite end of the couch. “Yes, she did.” 

Pike purses his lips slightly and stares at Jim. He considers him for a few moments before pushing off the couch. “Report back to your quarters at 1500.” His posture is back to the rigid “Starfleet Captain” look. 

Jim narrows his eyes at him. “What do you think my mother would do if I told her you were kicking her son out on the street?”

“Thank me.” Pike responds without missing a beat. He relaxes his stance a fraction. “James, if she definitively kicks you out after today, we can talk about rehousing you. But for now, you are going to have to face this like a real life adult.”

“I thought we already confirmed that while I am many things, a real life adult is not one of them.” Jim scrubs his hands over his face, as if doing so will rid him of the lethargy he feels in his very skin.

Pike offers him a soft half-smile. It’s not exactly the warmest thing in the world, but it’s not ice cold. Jim can appreciate what he’s getting. “Welcome to Starfleet, kid. You want to be a captain? Facing your CMO is part of the job.”

“But this is diff-”

“It really isn’t. You’ll get used to your doctor being constantly pissed off. Especially with the way you live your life.” Pike chuckles and heads off to the kitchen for his daily cup of too-strong coffee. “If you can face Lenore now, you can face anything. I truly believe that.”

Jim, being the adult that he is, flops face first back onto the couch.

-

Duffel bag slung over his shoulder, Jim has to make an important decision: actually go home or find somewhere a little bit safer to be. It’s the choice between a possibly still angry Lenore McCoy or a very welcoming Orion girl.

He is not a brave man.

He knocks a few times on the door and leans against the wall next to it. He’s cool. He can face real people. He can carry on conversation and not feel guilty about Lenore. James “Cool as a cucumber” Kirk.

He’s pretty sure if Lenore heard him say that out loud, she would never let him live it down.

It’s not Gaila who opens the door. It is, of course, Uhura. She crosses her arms in front of herself, eyes him up and down, and sighs. She steps aside and gestures into the room. “Don’t stand out there looking all stupid. Get in.” She ushers him in quickly and closes the door behind them.

Inside the small dorm, Gaila is stretched out on one of the beds, wearing only a bright pink sports bra and matching shorts. Typically, Jim would be all over that like white on rice, but today he can only really smile and wave.

He feels so awkward.

“So, you’re in love with her.” Nyota states. It’s not an accusation, it’s not even a question. It’s simply a blunt statement.

Jim sighs and lets himself fall on the bed with Gaila. “She hates me.”

Gaila giggles and brushes the hair off his forehead. “James, she does care for you.” She continues to run her fingers through his hair and he presses into the contact.

“She did. I messed up.” He murmurs to the girls. Jim lets out a content hum at the feel of Gaila’s fingernails on his scalp.

Uhura scoffs and Jim can hear the click of her boots as she walks over to sit on her own bed. “I doubt there’s anything you could do to make her not like you.” She lets out a snort that she quickly cuts off. “Honestly, I am pretty sure everything she’s said for the last few months revolves around you.”

Jim’s eyes fly open. “What? Really?”

Uhura nods and reaches down to unzip her boots. “Gaila, do you remember that one day in November?”

Gaila squeals and claps her hands. Jim pouts at the loss of her hand in his hair. Just when he was getting comfortable. Gaila ignores his small noises of discontent and barrels on with the story. “She was most excitable that day. Nearly knocked our door down.”

Jim sits up again and eyes them both. “What happened in November.”

Nyota smirks at Jim and brushes her hair out of her face. “She realized she was in love with you.”

Jim feels the wind get knocked out of him but this time, it’s in a good way. This time it’s like hearing what he’s been waiting for for way too long. He can’t breathe but if he could replay those words over and over again, he would.

Then he remembers what their last encounter was like and he slumps over again. He places his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, glaring at the two women. “That was November.”

“Yes, and it’s December now. I don’t exactly see the problem, Kirk.” Uhura narrows her eyes at Jim before her eyes dart to the duffel bag he brought with him. “What the hell did you do?”

“I talked to her daughter.”

“And this is causing you to not sleep in your own room because...?”

Jim stares at the carpet, resolutely studying the pattern of triangles that he’s sure is meant to look ‘retro’ but mostly looks tacky. “I didn’t know she had a daughter until said child called while Lenore was out with Carol.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “She came home, words were said, and she kicked me out. I’ve been staying with Pike for the last few days.” He explains.

“What did she say to make you so sure she doesn’t care?” 

“That the worst thing I could do was be myself.” Jim can hardly say the words and once he does, he feels like crying. “I know it’s true and all, but for some reason I thought Lenore might not care. I thought maybe she managed to overlook that.”

Uhura stands up and puts a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her. “Young James, I am going to tell you a secret.” 

Jim nods slowly. Honestly, he doesn’t care what it is. He’s sure that any bit of information might help him at this point. Fucking up worse than this probably is not possible.

“Girls can be just as dense as guys sometimes.” Uhura squeezes his shoulder. “Now, you can either go and work out whatever it is that’s happening between you two, or you can end up in an endless cycle of tripping over your own feet.”

“I don’t know if she’d even-”

“She broke up with Carol three days ago. Let’s not pretend that had nothing to do with you, Jim. I’m too tired for that.” 

-

Jim’s not sure what it was he was planning on doing when he woke up this morning, but it certainly wasn’t knocking on the door of his own damn apartment. Yet here he is, pounding on the door with a determination he’s not sure he has ever felt before or will ever feel again. All he knows that if this doesn’t happen right now, if Lenore doesn’t open the door and talk to him, he might just go home. Like, Iowa home.

“What the hell do you-” Lenore is raging when the door slides open but the doctor stops short when she realizes exactly who it is. “Jim.”

Jim chances a smile. “That is my name.”

Lenore stares at him in open mouthed shock, like she doesn’t actually believe he’s standing in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” He shifts his weight awkwardly from side to side. “Can I come in?”

Lenore suddenly snaps into gear and moves out of the way, stepping just a few feet to the right. “Of course.”

Jim leads into the apartment but when he looks behind himself, Lenore is still standing by the door, just watching him. “Look, I-”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Lenore blurts out and cuts him off. “I have spent the last three days worried sick over you and I can’t sleep because I feel absolutely awful about what I said. Jim, I’m sorry. I do not think I have ever done anything so stupid.” She laughs humorlessly. “And I went through my divorce.”

Jim crosses his arms defensively. “You don’t have to be sorry, Bones. I was the one who crossed a line.” 

Lenore yells and throws her hands up, obviously getting worked up over the whole thing. “That’s the thing! Sure, you crossed a line, but the line would never have been there if I wasn’t so afraid that you’d hate me! I was an idiot who thought that having a daughter would scare you away. I was afraid, Jim. You didn’t do anything. Not really.”

“Afraid?” His voice is hoarser than he’s used to.

Lenore nods and the corners of her mouth tug up slightly. “I thought that you were going to get weirded out by the whole “she has a kid” thing and just turn your back. I didn’t want to lose another person so soon.” Her voice gets small by the end of it and Jim can feel that uncomfortable tugging in his chest again.

He doesn’t want to ask, doesn’t really want to know, but he can’t stop himself from asking his next question. “I wasn’t pushing? I wasn’t, you know, being my usual idiotic self?”

Lenore groans again and starts looking around the apartment, slightly frantic. She seems to find what she’s looking for in one of the kitchen chairs because she drags it over. What surprises Jim is the fact that she chooses to stand on top of it. She’s crowded into Jim’s space now, standing only about two inches taller than him with the chair to help her. She looks down at him and stares him directly in the eye. “You don’t push, you’re not selfish. You may be annoying as hell some days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you around.”

Jim is slightly set off balance by having to look up at her for a change. He’s more affected by the way she’s looking at him. 

It’s that look she’s been giving him since November. The one that looks like she’s searching for something that she can’t quite find. Jim feels himself heat up and go red under the intense gaze and he almost wants to squirm away and leave things be. Save their friendship right now because he’s pretty sure they are about to ruin it.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Jim.” Lenore practically whispers to him. “If I could take it all back, I would. Please understand that.”

Jim can’t really find it in himself to do anything but nod. All of his regular brain functions seem to have shut down and all he can think right now is about how close they are right now, how far he would have to lean up to kiss her, what color her eyes are.

It’s honestly a bit terrifying. 

“You like me.” The statement falls out of his mouth before he can stop it and shove it back down. It’s not even what he really meant to say at all. He was supposed to say something about how he felt about her, not the other way around.

For a brief moment, Lenore looks like she’s about to deny it. She settles instead for shaking her head and laughing nervously. “You’re an idiot.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback appreciated!  
> Tumblr: fabtrek


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